My little girl
by AccaliaTheWolverine
Summary: Tony Stark has a baby sister whom he raised after his parents died. She is his biggest secret and the proof that Tony has a heart. Now she's graduating. AU. Series of one shots. Let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1

**This idea somehow popped up in my head and wouldn't leave. Tony Stark has a baby sister whom he raised after his parents died. She is his biggest secret. Now she's graduating.  
Just to get the time line straight (or at least I think that's how the MCU timeline could go): Iron Man 1&2=2008, Avengers+IM3=2009, Captain America: Civil War+ SpiderMan Homecoming= 2017 (not that this last one actually matters, but it fits). **

My little girl

"I can't believe she's graduating. She was a baby just a moment ago."  
"You did a good job raising her, son."  
"I just did what my mother did and all the things my father didn't do. I couldn't have done it without your help, Aunt Peggy. Thank you." Said Tony Stark as they turned their attention to the stage. Peggy took his hand. Somehow they both managed to get by unnoticed by the crowd.  
Most of the graduates were the same age and then there was Charlie. At 18 years old Charlotte Peggy Carter-Stark, the spitting image of her namesake, was graduating MIT in Physics and Mechanical engineering. Her big brother and aunty couldn't be more proud of her. Tony smiled to himself as he remembered the sleepless nights walking around his workshop with a crying baby in his arms or how she held onto Dummy when she was learning to walk.

Everything started that one day on July 7th 1991, the day she was born. Maria really wanted a daughter, a little girl to spoil and dress, teach the piano and sing with her. His parents had a surrogate, because his mother was too old to give birth. At least that's what he's been told, but he found later it wasn't the whole truth. His mom couldn't have kids. She couldn't but Aunt Peggy could. Dad never hesitated to ask his friend for a favor to make Mom happy. Peggy agreed. That's how Tony was born and then 21 years later, with the help of IVF and the genetic material from my dad and Peggy, Charlotte came to be. His mom was so grateful to Peggy she gave Charlie her name.

His mom and Dad died the same year in December. They were going to the Bahamas and had a car accident. Charlie was with Peggy for Christmas. She came to find him as soon as she could, but he already managed to do some things to avoid grieving that he's not proud of. When Tony saw her with Charlie, he knew he had two options. Give Charlie up or raise her. Peggy said she could take her, but she was still working at SHIELD at the time and it would have been dangerous. When Tony looked at his baby sister, he knew there was no way he could give her up and not regret it for the rest of my life. She and Aunt Peggy were the only family he had left. The world never knew about Charlie and it was better that way. Tony wanted her to have a normal childhood that didn't involve being chased by reporters. With Peggy's help they created a new identity for her as Charlotte Carter to be used during her school time. It worked out and Charlie was safe. That was 18 years ago. To this day no one beside him, Peggy, Rhodey, his other bestie Emily and Pepper knew about Charlie. He trusted Pepper with his life, so why not with his sister.

There he was sitting next to his biological mother on his sisters' graduation. Captain had been pissed when he said he would ditch yet another boring team building activity and do something else instead. One day, when he would trust them enough, he would tell them the truth about his baby girl. But not yet. Pepper had been understanding and cleared his schedule so he could enjoy this important day. Too bad she could not make it. Charlie had just walked up on stage and as the top of class she was asked to give a speech.  
"My brother once told me that there was no point in doing things you don't love and he was right. Every one of us is here today, because we did just that and probably because the Avengers stopped those aliens in New York. I don't think we'd be standing here if they didn't.  
We can't know what the future holds or where we end up in a couple of years. Many of us know, or at least claim to know, the next step they'll be taking. Others have no idea. In the past years we learned not only how not to blow up a lab, although accidents still happen, but we learned a lot about ourselves as well. The biggest thing I learned and I'm probably speaking for a lot of us here, is that we only get one trip around this rock, so we might as well enjoy it.  
You have to find a balance between work and fun. A well-rounded person is someone who knows a little bit about every topic his or her friends discuss, and an interesting person can take that info and have a conversation about it, even if his or her knowledge is lacking.  
To everyone who touched our lives, we say thank you. To parents, who stood by us no matter what. To teachers who tried to instill in us a passion for learning. To administrators who wanted to make our college experiences as amazing as possible. To advisors who helped us decide what path to take. To friends who were there for pizza parties, study sessions, and everything in between. And to all those others we depend on. Without you and without each other, there would be no purpose to being here, no way to advance. Life, like society, is exactly what we make of it."  
Charlotte looked at the audience, took a deep breath and continued: "We all have people here whom we owe a lot at without whom we wouldn't be standing here. Personally, I'd like to thank the person who raised me and that was my older brother. Without you I wouldn't be here and you taught me the most important lesson of all. Just because something is hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible. And now, Class of 2009 toss those hats in the air, because we did it!"

Hats flew in the air and the crowd was clapping. When his little girl ran up to hug him, tears of joy escaped his eyes. "Thank you for everything you did for me, Tony." she said. Tony Stark never felt prouder...


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi! Thank you for the wonderful reviews, they really made my day. I decided to add two new chapters – the first one being the aftermath of IM3- Christmas, and the other one will be about the Avengers teaching Thor how to drive (aka some Avengers meet Charlie).**_

 **Christmas 2009 (After IM3) - Old Stark Estate in LA**

Pepper and Charlotte were sitting by the fireplace drinking hot chocolate. Charlotte was finally home from school and the girls were going over everything that happened in the past days.

"So that guy was your former employer or something?"  
"Yes, he was. He was so annoying like a stalker, one day I said to myself that I had enough and left. Now, tell me how school is. Economy and management, finally something I can relate to."

"I'm handing my last paper over after winter break, ace my final exams in January and then I'm all yours."  
"Great, an assistant is exactly what I need right now. Now I wish I knew where Tony was so we could start. Thank god you're not your father, or I'd have gone nuts."  
"I don't remember my father, Pepper." Pepper stopped drinking and looked at Charlie.  
"What do you mean you don't remember? Tony isn't your father? But you call him dad." None of the women noticed Tony Stark standing in the doorway.  
"No, I'm not. I only told you that 'cause it was an easier explanation. Charlie is my sister and my everything. I remember when my mom and Aunt Peggy brought her home…"

 _ **8**_ _ **th**_ _ **of July 1991**_

" _Is she supposed to be so, I don't know, dark pink?" Said Tony leaning over the newborn his mom and aunt had just brought home from the hospital. The baby with thick brown hair, mostly covered by a pink hat, was still strapped in the infant car seat.  
"Yes, Tony, you were the same. It will change to normal in a few days. She looks exactly like you did when you were born. Only you were bigger and louder. You have yet to tell me what her name is, Maria."  
"I have a middle name, but her name is up to her brother. Am I right, Tony?"  
"What? Wait, you weren't joking?!" Tony finally looked away from the baby.  
"What name did you pick for your sister?" said Maria, as she brought tea from the kitchen.  
Tony looked at his mom, then Peggy and then back at his baby sister.  
"I thought of many, but now that I see her, I think I have the perfect name."  
"Tell us already. I want to know what my second nieces name is."  
"Alright, Aunt Peggy. I want to name her Charlotte. Charlotte Stark sound great and we could call her Charlie, or Lottie."  
Maria walked over to her kids and picked the little girl up. "Well, then it's decided. Charlotte Peggy Stark, welcome to the family!" Peggy looked at Maria in disbelief.  
"If it weren't for you Peggy, I would have never met Howard nor would I have those two amazing children." Maria transferred Charlotte to Peggy's arms.  
"Maria, I'm touched. Thank you." said Peggy looking at her niece.  
"No, Peggy. Thank You." The two women cooed at the baby for a while longer, until...  
"You know, her big brother hadn't held her yet." Peggy looked sheepishly at Maria. Tony, who was sitting on the couch panicked. "What if I break her? Peggy, mom, she's new, don't let me destroy her." Before he knew it, Charlotte was settled in his arms. The pink hat slid down and covered her eyes, so naturally Tony wanted to fix that. He reached down and fixed the hat. Tony wanted to remove his hand, but Charlie had other ideas. She reached up and grabbed his little finger. Her brother looked down at her with a smile. Maria and Peggy observed the duo and they both knew. Even if it looked like her hand was wrapped around his finger, Tony was the one wrapped around Charlottes little finger. _

**Christmas 2009 (After IM3) - Old Stark Estate in LA**

"Anyway, later I found out, that there was something more behind mom's words. Mom couldn't have children, so dad asked his good friend Peggy Carter to help them. Basically, our mother is still alive. This year she's with my cousin Sharon. It will probably be the last Christmas she can truly enjoy." Said Tony as he sat down between his two girls.  
"Why is that?" asked Pepper leaning on his shoulder.  
"She has Alzheimer's and it's getting worse every day. She lives in DC."  
"So that's why every month a payment goes to a luxury retirement home? I should have asked sooner."  
"Yeah, that's the reason. Now, let's pick a movie. Where are you going, Charlie?" But Charlotte just skipped away without another word. Tony rolled his eyes and smiled. Charlotte wasn't his creation, but she was his legacy. The first good choice he made, the other being hiring Pepper.  
Charlie ran up to her room. There, hidden from her brothers' sight, was mistletoe with a big red bow hanging on a fishing pole. No matter what biology or genetics say, to Charlotte Tony was her dad and the best big brother ever. He was the dad he didn't have to be. She also knew how much he loved Pepper. Charlie liked Pepper too. She was smart, down to earth and really nice. Also, she took care of Charlottes' brother and kept him in check.  
Pepper and Tony were deciding what movie to watch and didn't notice the fishing pole Charlotte carried to the living room. Nor did they hear Charlie sneak up on them, but she was taught by the Agent Carter, so who would. With the mistletoe in place she decided it was time to let her presence be known.  
"You guys might want to look up." Pepper and Tony both jumped up.  
"Charlotte Peggy Carter-Stark! What did I tell you about sneaking up on people like that? You almost gave us a heart attack."  
"Not to do that, but you guys wouldn't have noticed me anyway. Now look up." The couple did as the teenager told them to.  
"Where did that come from?"  
"I think it has something to do with the fishing pole attached to it."  
"Urgh, could you two finally stop talking and kiss? Come on, it's Christmas. We all know you love each other. Leave the stress, the fighting, worries, villains, stocks, armors, aliens, demigods, super soldiers, fear, extratemis or whatever and kiss. I know you both want to."  
"It's Extremis, by the way."  
"Who cares? " replied Charlotte.  
Tony looked at Pepper. He knew Charlotte was right. Tony loved Pepper and she loved him back. He leaned in and gently kissed her. Pepper kissed back. Charlotte just grinned. She put the fishing pole in the corner and rather that interrupt the couple by jumping on the couch, she chose to sit down by the piano and play. When Tony and Pepper finally broke their make-out session, their attention was caught by soft tones of My grown up Christmas. While Charlotte sang, Tony took the opportunity, got a hold of Pepper and they started to dance.

"I have an idea. Screw the movie, let's sing instead." Said Charlotte when the song ended. Tony happily agreed and Pepper, well, Pepper now knew that Tony didn't have a piano only for decorative purposes.


	3. Chapter 3

**February 2010**

"Avengers, I have a special assignment for you!" said Fury marching into the common area of the Avengers Tower.  
"What is it, sir?" asked Steve while the others slowly gathered around them.  
"Since Thor is staying here on Earth for a while, he needs a new identity, which SHIELD will provide. We all agreed it would be useful if Thor knew more about our laws and customs, which is where you come in. You have three weeks to teach Thor how to drive and all the laws that come with it. You'll get a car from Shield. This is not a request so get to work!"

Once the pirate was gone, Captain started to divide assignments.  
"Natasha, Bruce and I will take over the driver's education. Clint, you'll teach him how to drive and Stark, make sure the car is prepared. Don't even think about teaching him how to drive, we all know your style." Tony snickered. Once he took Steve for a ride in one of his sport cars. The Super Soldier didn't like it.

Two weeks later Tony found the poor Asgardian on the common floor in the middle of the night struggling with traffic signs.  
"Tough, isn't it?"  
"Yes, these pictures are indeed confusing, Man of Iron." Fury was supposed to come and test Thor in a few days and until now, he knew how to start a car, some basic laws and that he shouldn't crash it. How did Fury expect the Asgardian to understand everything you teach kids during months in a matter of weeks? Tony remembered how two years ago Charlie made her license. She however grew up surrounded by Tony's car collection.  
"You know what, come with me. You won't learn anything like this."  
"But Captain said…"  
"Thor, Cap's sleeping. Besides, he doesn't have to know about any of this. You want to learn it, don't you?"  
"Yes, that I do."  
"Then get of your ass and come with me. We're going for a drive."

Not much later the duo was driving through the streets of NY with Tony pointing at various traffic signs and explaining their meaning. He had done the same thing to Charlotte and since it worked so well, there was no reason why it shouldn't work on Thor. By the time they returned to the tower, Thor was able to identify half the signs they passed.  
"That was way better than the books and pictures, thank you."  
"Nah, no problem, just don't tell Capsicle. If you want to, I know a place ideal for driving lessons. Barton and Cap always tell me to keep my distance, but if you want to, we can go there. It would be our secret."  
"Yes, that would be great. This driving seems to be very difficult. When do we go?"  
"In the afternoon. We'll tell the others we are going shopping for... I'll think of something. Now go to sleep. I don't need a sleeping God of Thunder behind a steering wheel."  
When Tony came to the kitchen the next morning, Natasha was once again testing Thor.  
"Finally, we made some progress, Steve."  
"That's good, we might be able to make it. I almost thought Fury would win this one. Good that you finally join us, Stark. Yesterday we were driving with Clint and the engine was making a funny noise."  
"While accelerating?"  
"Yes, how did you know? Did Clint tell you already?"  
"No, that's the cars turbo. It needs to be replaced. The new one should arrive today."  
"Good, how long will it take?"  
"At least a day and I need special equipment for that, so I'm going to the store. And I want Thor with me."  
"Why would you need Thor? He needs to be here and learn."  
"Why? Thor needs to know how a car works in the first place and would a few hours kill you? He needs a break."  
Bruce sided with Tony. "Tony's right. We've been stuffing his head nonstop for the past two weeks. Thor gets a break, we get a break and no one will break down."  
"Alright, but you'll go with them to make sure Stark doesn't do something stupid. Till then, Clint, take Thor for a drive."

Later that day, Tony, Bruce and Thor were seated in Tony's sedan. Bruce was sitting in the backseat and Thor was next to Tony, who was the driver.  
"So, Thor. What do we do first?"  
"The seatbelt?"  
"Good. What's next?"  
"Start the engine and move."  
"Alright."  
Tony started the engine and the car drove out of the garage. Thor was confident in explaining every sign they passed. Bruce only noticed something was off, when he realized they left the city.  
"Where exactly is the store we need to go to?"  
"There is no store. I'm freeing Thor from the struggle with drivers ed. Bruce, I've seen him last night, he was desperate. I'm just trying to help. We're going to my childhood home, he can learn how to drive there. I'm not that bad of an influence. No matter how crazy I drive, I've never ever been in a car accident. Don't tell Cap, Brucie, come on."  
"Alright, we've got nothing to lose anyway."  
Charlotte observed the black Audi from the mansions roof. She knew exactly who it was, because the license plate read STARK 21 on it. And Tony called ahead saying he'd introduce her to someone. She'd arrived this morning, taking a break after school because Tony thought it would be better for her development and because he wanted her close. Charlie quickly climbed down before her brother could see her.  
Tony parked the sedan next to Charlottes blue R8, the gift he got her for graduation and her 18th birthday. He inspected the R8 for scratches and was very happy when he didn't find any.  
"Tony, whose car is this?"  
"My first driving student."  
The mansion door opened revealing a young girl with the same eyes as Tony's. The kid ran up to Tony and jumped into his arms.  
"Dad!"  
"Charlie, man, did I miss you. Did all you unpack already? Doesn't matter, finally you're home."  
"I missed you, too, daddy. Are those the Avengers?" Then Tony turned to the guys.

"Bruce, Thor, this is my daughter, Charlotte. Charlie, meet Dr. Banner and Thor."  
"Hi, it's nice to meet you. Come on inside, it's cold out here."  
"How about you keep Bruce occupied, while Thor and I drive around a bit. We'll join you in a bit." When she ran back inside Tony whispered to Bruce: "She's a bit shy, but she's a big fan of yours."  
"Me or Hulk?"  
"Both." Tony left with Thor and Bruce went inside. Charlotte was observing Thor from the window as he learned to maneuver the car.  
"Dr. Banner, would you like something to drink? We have tea."  
"Thank you, tea would be great. So, what did you study?"  
"I just got my PhD in Economy and Management, but only because Tony and Pepper wanted me to know something about managing a company. However, I prefer physics and mechanical engineering."  
"You have PhD's in those as well I suppose."  
"Yes, I do. What's so funny, Dr. Banner?"  
"Please, Bruce is just fine. It's just that Tony is the last person on Earth I would have thought would be a dad. He's just not the type and still there you are. How old are you, by the way?"  
"18. Do you want to see some pictures of him in dad-mode?"  
"You can bet on that." Soon Charlie was back with a bunch of pictures. One of them was a baby's first year book. Charlotte Peggy Carter-Stark was written on the cover. The first picture was one of two older women, one of them holding a baby, and a young man who Bruce assumed was Tony. He also noticed that only one of the women shared genetic similarities with the kids. Then there were many others that caused Bruce to laugh.  
"Hey, kids, you're having fun?" said Tony entering the living room with Thor in tow.  
"Yeah, I'm showing Bruce old pictures. He couldn't believe you could be a dad."  
"I just never thought of you as a parent. You really let her drive a car when she was 5?"  
"Yes, kind of. She was sitting on my knees and steering. It was fun. But I only taught her how to drive when she was 16, over summer holidays here on the grounds. I took her for a drive, showed her the signs and explained the laws. The same thing I'd done with Thor and it seems to work."  
"It was awesome. We were driving around the mansion here the whole month. Then I was allowed to take the car apart and put it back together. Can I get a dog?"  
"We'll talk about that later. Please, guys don't tell anyone about her. I keep her hidden for a damn good reason. First I wanted her to have a normal childhood, although with a genius like her it has proven to be a lot harder than I first thought, but as she grew Peggy and I found that she's a lot more special. Please, just for now. When everything's ready she'll be moving to the Tower with us." Seeing the pleading look in Tony's eyes, both men agreed.  
Soon it was time for them to leave, only because Cap already called Bruce 4 times asking where they were and somehow he stopped buying the 'We're stuck in traffic' excuse. Before they got into the car, Charlie turned to Bruce.  
"Can I hug you?"  
"Sure, kiddo."  
"Thank you, for saving my dad."  
"That was no problem."  
Thor got a hug as well. Tony smiled. Charlotte already managed to wrap both guys around her finger. Soon they left, with Tony promising he'd be back in a bit with the broken SUV.  
"She's a sweet kid. How did you manage to raise her like that?"  
"I'd be dammed if I knew, guys. Do you think I should allow the dog?"


	4. Chapter 4

**When Tony finally moves Charlie to the Tower, it does not go as planned. With Pepper on the other side of the country and the team pretty pissed at him for not showing up on team-nights, the duo prepares for a new challenge.**

Tony Stark missed yet another team night. Not to mention that in the past two weeks he hadn't even spent his nights in the tower. Bruce was sometimes absent as well, but only during day. Cap, as well as Black Widow and Hawkeye suspected something was up. It definitely had something to do with the containers being delivered to the Tower two weeks ago, but access to Tony Starks area had been restricted so they couldn't check what went on. Right now they were all, minus Tony, sitting in the common area waiting for Fury, who wanted to talk about the outcome of Thors' driving test and other stuff.  
"Avengers, before we start is there anything someone wants to discuss? Wait, one is missing."  
"That's what we want to discuss. Stark neglects the team, misses out workouts, team bonding, just about everything. He's never around." Said Cap, his patience with the armored Avenger running out.  
"Captain, I think you're forgetting that Stark actually has a real job besides the Avengers. Even if Pepper is his co-CEO, Tony is still the Chief engineer. They have to come up with new stuff if they want profit." Bruce tried to defend Tony. He knew Tony was spending time with his daughter and wouldn't let her alone in that mansion at night. He too went over a couple of times and had to admit the girl was one of a kind. Charlotte was helping out with new ideas and Tony brought them to life.  
"Actually, that sounds reasonable. But where is he at night when not in the Tower? Or where is he now?"

Outside NY, Tony was busy helping his daughter with moving. "I'm so going to miss this place."  
"Charlie, we're not selling it. You can still come here anytime you like."  
"I know, but still. What if they don't like me?"  
"Baby girl, they'll like you. And if by any tiny chance they don't, screw them. Bruce and Thor love you already. Speaking of Bruce, he would love it if you joined us in the lab."  
"Really?"  
"Really and I had an indoor net playground made for you, so you can get rid of your energy. It's smaller than the one we have here, but it should do. If that's not enough, you're free to climb through the vents."  
"Dad, don't you think I'm a bit too old to have a playground?"  
"No, no one is too old for a playground like that. Besides, Peggy had a similar in the Shield training centre. It's made of nets and ropes to climb around, no slides and stuff like that. It does have a swing, though. I'm sure even Bird brain and Widow would love it. Now we have to load the car up, come on, monkey." Charlotte smiled at her dad as he pushed her towards the car.  
At the Avengers Tower, Fury moved the discussion to other topics.  
"Captain, you wanted some info on Agent Carter. Well, from what I dug up, she's still alive. She lives in a retirement home in DC. She was married for a while, but her husband, also a Shield agent was killed while on mission."  
"Does she have kids?"  
"It states here she has a son, Edward Carter and a granddaughter Charlotte. Mother unknown. There are no information about these two anywhere, only that they exist." Nick didn't tell them the whole truth, he met Charlotte when she was a toddler. Peggy had brought her to Shield sometimes.  
"No information? Wow, Peggy must have made sure about that. Not even a picture?"  
"Not in our files or anywhere else. However, some months ago, Peggy left the retirement home to go to Massachusetts. Among the graduates at MIT was a girl named Charlotte Peggy Carter. A genius child, she graduated at 18 with 3 PhD's."  
"Do you know where she is?"  
"No, we only know she finished her studies in Economy in early February this year and we lost her. She's like a ghost. Perhaps you'll have more luck. Thor passed the test, I have no idea how, but he did. I later want to know which one taught you the best."  
Bruce and Thor looked at each other in discomfort. This was Charlie Fury was talking about, the innocent, naïve, sweet genius child of Tony Stark.

Tony and Charlotte finally unloaded everything on Tonys' floor. "Welcome to the Avengers Tower, Charlotte. What do you think?"  
"It's big and modern. I like the style and all the musical instruments I can get on your nerves with."  
"I always loved to hear you play. If you still want to make it big on Broadway, go for it. Do you remember what I told you when you were younger?"  
"That I can be anything I want to be, but I'll always be daddy's little girl."  
"Exactly, now go check out your room and I'll go check what all those missed calls were about."  
Charlotte disappeared upstairs and Tony went down to the meeting room.  
"Hey, what did I miss? Hi, Nick. I had no idea you'd be coming as well."  
"Perhaps you should check your mails more often then. Where were you, Stark?" said Cap.  
"I had something important. Besides, Jarvis records all briefings, so there was no use for me here. I'll be upstairs if you need me." With that Tony walked out of the room knowing they wouldn't resist following him. Charlotte was already hanging in the safety net that replaced part of the ceiling.  
"See, I told you you'd love it."  
"You were right, just like you always are. The Avengers are on their way up, if you're interested."  
"I thought so. You got into the system already?"  
"Jarvis told me. They'll be here any second." Just then the door flung open and the Avengers led by Captain and Fury walked in.  
"Stark, I want an explanation. Why are you not spending time with your team?" asked Fury. Tony sighed, he really didn't want to have this conversation with Charlotte in the room.  
"Well, first of all you and Natashalie decided I was not part of the team and would be just a consultant, so there is no my team. Capsicle here said I should stop pretending to be a hero. Second, I have more important stuff to attend than this. I have a company to run in case you forgot."  
"That's what it's about, Stark? You're holding a grudge. My god you're such a child sometimes. See, that's why you weren't recommended." Said Natasha, annoyed. The bickering went on for a few more minutes leaving Tony to wonder what exactly Peggy taught Charlotte. The kid remained unnoticed by 2 master assassins and THE spy all while being directly above them. Every time Peggy was not at Shield or on a mission she was teaching Charlotte everything she knew. She literally started training the kid at the age of 4 mostly for her to know how to defend herself, with CC loving the time spent with Peggy and Tony being happy to have a babysitter. Also with Charlottes hyperactivity it served as a good means to tire her out.  
Charlie obviously got bored in the net since she managed to climb down and stood now behind the Avengers totally unnoticed. She then proceeded to climb into the vents, got hold of the files Fury left in the meeting room and climbed back to the net. Tony grinned, a teenager outsmarted the best of best. The grin however did not go unnoticed.  
"See, he doesn't take anything seriously. What's so funny?"  
"You guys are." Tony was slowly getting on everyone's nerves with his snarky attitude.  
"At least there's only one of you, I have no idea how we'd deal with more. Just join us for the team night. It's movie night, feel free to take Pepper as well, someone has to keep you in check."  
"Pepper's in LA." Tony answered as everyone turned to leave. Bruce stayed behind and waited until everyone was in the elevator. He knew why Tony never stayed for the night.  
"If you want, I could go over and watch Charlie tonight."  
"That's kind of you, but there is no need for that. Look up." Bruce and did and saw Charlotte smiling down at them. The girl climbed down and walked to the two men.  
"She was here the whole time? That's impressive and scary at the same time."  
"That she was. Now let's see what you got there, monkey. Huh, looks like Fury's been searching for you, kiddo."  
"So it's true then, she's really Agent Carters granddaughter. That makes you her son, Edward. That's your middle name, right?"  
"Yes. I didn't know Peggy was my biological mother till I was almost 22, when I got Charlie. Why did Fury have this?"  
"Cap was curious about Peggy, where she was and if she had a family, but Fury only found this, the rest was erased or nonexistent."  
"Yes, that's Peggy's work. She wanted to make sure we were safe. I was an adult already, but Charlie was just a baby. That's why she has a fake birth certificate, made at Shield. The real one, I have it. Why would Cap want Peggys grandchild?"  
"I can't answer that. See you later."

Nick Fury was pissed. The files were gone. The others assured him they had to be somewhere on the floor. He finally sat down and the movie started. Tony was sitting on the end of the couch. They decided on _Father of the bride_. Well, Steve and Natasha did. Meanwhile Charlotte was exploring the rest of the tower. She was never a people person. Tony knew that, so he didn't push her into anything.  
With the movie coming to an end, Tony was hit with realization. One day he will have to let Charlotte go. "I'll be right back." He stood up and quickly left the room. When he finally stopped he was clutching his chest. His heart was racing as he slid down the wall on the cold floor.  
"Dad, are you alright? Are you having a heart attack?" said Charlotte as she ran up to him. He looked up to his daughters terrified eyes. The heart calmed down.  
"No, no. I'm fine, sweetheart. That was nothing." The duo moved to the couch.  
"You had a panic attack again, didn't you? What triggered it?" Charlotte was well aware what nothing meant. He couldn't lie to her. "The thought of loosing you forever to someone else." "You'll never lose me, daddy. I don't care if others don't see you like that, but you're my hero. I love you." "I love you, too, baby girl. That's the only thing that matters to me." They stayed in a teary hug for what felt like an eternity.  
"Did you ever know that you're my hero, everything I wish I could be? I could fly higher than an eagle; you are the wind beneath my wings."

"Wind beneath my wings?"  
"I want you to know I know the truth. I would be nothing without you. It's fitting. You were always the figure in the shadow, content to let me shine and giving me strength. Thank you for being such a great dad, even if you didn't have to be. Now, let's get to the you getting a life part. By that I mean a life with Pepper."  
"You think I should do it?" "I know you will sooner or later, so why postpone it more than you already did?"

Some time later the Avengers figured out Tony wouldn't be coming back. Fury went to search for him first. Charlotte and Tony were caught up in the middle of planning when Jarvis announced it. "Stark where on earth…!" he suddenly stopped himself. "Hey, Nick! I think you guys met already, but still Nick, this is my daughter Charlotte, Charlie the pirate over there is Director Fury. Oh, those are yours I suppose." Tony pointed to the files.  
"Hi!" said Charlotte. Nick went to sit down next to the Starks staring at the young girl the whole time. "You didn't expect this, did you?"  
"Certainly not. She was here the whole time?"  
"Today? Yes, but she stayed at the old mansion for the past two weeks. That's where I went every night. Funny thing, when you first got here with the gang, she was hanging right above you and no one noticed."  
"That's impressive. Very impressive. Are you going to introduce her to the team?"  
"I wanted tonight, but since the mood was so 'awesome' I will tomorrow. You staying?"  
"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna miss that announcement. I'm gonna calm the gang down. Charlotte? Welcome to this madhouse." When Nick left Charlie turned to Tony:  
"What did he mean by madhouse?"  
"You'll see."

 **Charlie meeting the Avengers will be the next chapter since this one was too long already. You won't have to wait long, I promise. Thank you for the wonderful reviews. If anyone has any suggestions, some things they'd like to happen, feel free to review or PM me.**


	5. Chapter 5

The Avengers were sent on a mission early the next morning leaving Charlotte in the tower with Nick Fury. Nick had finally taken a few days of and intended to focus on turning the time bomb called Avengers into a proper team. He didn't inform anyone at Shield about his intentions. No one asked, some even seemed glad he'd be gone. The team was supposed to be back in the evening and the only thing for him to do was to make sure Starks princess stayed safe. This gave him some time to learn about the kid a bit more. He observed Charlotte as she swung around the monkey playground in a black leotard. When she finally climbed down to the ground he asked:  
"You do gymnastics?"  
"Yes and ballet since I was 3. I don't dance professionally anymore, just at home."  
"Have you ever thought about joining Shield? I assume you heard about it."  
"I did hear about it, but no, never. I don't like violence. Sometimes spies have to hit someone or shoot or kill, that's not for me."  
"That's too bad, you have what it takes to be a good agent. What does the future hold for you then?"  
"Pepper wants me to start training to be a CEO ASAP, dad said to follow my dreams. I don't know. It's complicated."  
"You still have some time to figure it out. I can tell you for sure that your brother is already very proud of you."  
"Wait, how do you know he's my brother?"  
"Your father was the founder of Shield and a good friend of mine. He did talk about his family, his son and that they were having another child, a daughter. We were together on a mission when you were born. Don't worry, your secret was and always will be safe with me, kid." "Thank you." The duo spent the next hour chatting. The kid was well behaved much to Fury's relief. She reminded him of her brother when he was a child. He found that for the past 3 years Charlotte was in the care of Tony's best friend, ex-girlfriend and classmate from his studies named Emily. Also, Stark turned out to be overprotective of Charlie. She was 18 and until now she wasn't allowed to stay alone overnight. It wasn't the girl who was scared to be alone. Whatever experience haunted Stark affected the kid's life. Deep inside, he knew it couldn't stay like that forever and that, Fury realized, had scared him last night- the thought of letting go.  
Some hours later Fury found himself explaining gear and weapons to the girl in the armory. He really liked to talk to someone who was actually interested in what he said, not just blindly following orders. A sound of alarm filled the room.

"What was that?" Charlotte asked looking around. Nick turned his attention to where Charlie was looking. The display read 'Security breach' before completely turning off. "I don't know and I don't like it." Said Fury. Charlotte was calling out for Jarvis, who didn't respond. They couldn't access the security system either. It was Saturday, the offices in the first few floors were empty, but both Nick and Charlie knew that the only way to get into the sophisticated security of Tony's was through the servers. Whoever did this was with them in the building.

They were in the main kitchen, the Avengers were on mission and the enemy was in the tower and all Nick had was a teenager to babysit, who had no idea how to use a gun. This was certainly not the way Fury intended to spend his day off. He was pacing around the room thinking what to do next.  
"We could get to the main control room, the security cameras should be online there." Charlotte piped up.  
"The whole system is offline."  
"That's exactly why dad made three independent systems. One of them is idiot-proof. It can't be disabled. The cameras record everything directly, so unless they shot them or covered them we should be able to get an image."  
"Good thinking, kid. Stay here."  
"No, I'm going. Besides, you don't know where it is. The room's hidden. Come on."  
"I guess stubbornness runs in the family. Lead the way and stay quiet."

"Yes, boss." Charlotte grabbed a frying pan from the counter.  
"What do you need that for?"  
"Hey, you have a gun and I can at least hit someone's head." Nick shook his head. Fortunately the kid knew at least how to sneak around. Their enemy didn't notice them yet, or at least no one bothered to check and somehow they made it into the hidden control room. Fury was standing watch while Charlotte worked at the screens.  
"We have three in the server room and 1 in the corridor." Said Charlie as she zoomed in.  
"What is weird?"  
"I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this i" Nick abandoned his position and peeked over Charlie's shoulder. She was right.  
"Can we get the audio?"  
"Sure. This is the server room." Charlie pushed one of the buttons and sound filled the room.  
 _"Why are we here again?"  
"Because boss wants us to be and we're the best he has."  
"What if they catch us?"  
"They won't. The source in Shield confirmed they left on mission."  
"Well, we better be able to get in before they come back, this is the most sophisticated system I've ever seen. I'd rather be working for Stark than Hammer."  
"Let's get this done, if we can, there will be cash. Don't forget to upload the virus."  
"Yeah, sure."_

Fury and Charlie observed the screen. So far no unrepairable damage had been made.  
"I don't think they know what they're doing. They won't be able to get to the data, but the virus worries me. If they use the right port they could spread it to Shields servers. That is if it works. It's Hammer Tech after all."  
"We have to stop them before they do more damage. Your brother won't like this, but you know the vents system here. Can you climb down there without being noticed?"  
"Yes, I suppose."  
"Good. I will get their attention and you disconnect those laptops. I know you have no training, but do you think you can do that?"  
"I will do my best. Grandma taught me some useful stuff."  
"Let's get coms and we're good to go."

The unlike duo headed downstairs to the servers. Charlie climbed into the shaft and Nick proceeded through the corridor. The agent was walking back and forth and was obviously annoyed. He was joined by another one from the server room who kept complaining about everything taking too long. Once the two agents spotted Fury, they began their attack, failing miserably. With both knocked unconscious Fury proceeded towards the server room in order to get rid of the other 2. Coming closer he heard a bunch of weird noises coming out of it. He wasn't prepared for the view that awaited him once he stood in the doorway. "What the hell happened here? How did you do this?" Charlotte looked at him innocently before. Fury couldn't believe what he was seeing. The two technicians were taped together in one corner, their equipment was on a pile disconnected from the server, wires were all around the room and in the middle of this mess was Tony Stark's kid innocently inspecting scratches on a frying pan. "Do you think Tony will care that I scratched it? I threw it against the wall. Well, this one was standing there, but it hit the wall." "How did you manage to capture them?"  
"It wasn't that hard. They were so preoccupied they didn't even notice me until I hit one of them, the other then started to act up so after a short chase and some kicks and punches in the right places he gave up, then I taped them up and disconnected the PCs. And then you came." Fury didn't know what he was supposed to say to her. "You got some of the tape left?" "Sure."  
"Can you tie up the others while I call Shield to come and get them." The kid smiled and skipped off down the hall. What else did Stark forget to tell him?

15 minutes later Shield agents came to get the 4 men. Fury sorted everything while Charlotte was already occupied with playing the piano. Just like her brother, the girl could only do one thing for a limited amount of time. Certain things however could keep them both occupied for days. The convicts were arrested, agents of Shield left and pizza was on its way. Fury sighed, he was only supposed to keep an eye on Tony's kid today and somehow it ended like this. Charlotte somehow after many failed attempts managed to reconnect the wired and Jarvis came back to life. Pepper had left a message she'd be back tomorrow. Once the food arrived they settled on the couch, watched TV and talked. It didn't take long for the Avengers to arrive home. Fury paused the movie and went to greet them. Charlotte stayed behind.  
"Avengers, good to have you back. Freshen up and we'll have a debriefing at 1600 hours." A noise filled the room. Something, or someone fell from the couch.  
"Sir, who else is here?" asked Clint. Fury looked at Tony who nodded.  
"Well, since Stark agrees, come on." He said as he led the group to the living room. Tony arrived first. "Hey, monkey!" Charlotte lifted her head at the familiar voice.  
"Dad!" She ran over and gave him a hug. It was soon interrupted by Fury.  
"Sorry to disturb your moment, but we're here too."  
"Right, sorry. Guys, this is my daughter Charlotte, Lottie, these are the Avengers. This is Clint Barton, the lady's Natasha Romanoff, be careful she's an assassin and lacks sense of humor, that tall one is Steve Rogers and you already know Bruce and Thor. Rogers are you alright?" Tony said as he still held Charlotte close to him. Steve stared at her. She looked like Peggy, there were some differences, but the face was Peggy. "Peggy?" he managed to whisper.  
"Yeah, that would be her middle name. How did you know?"  
"I… excuse me for a moment." With that he left.  
"Did I do something wrong?" asked Charlotte. "No, honey, you didn't. Just give him time. Now, did you give Fury a hard time?"  
"She was no trouble at all, Stark. But there will be time to discuss this later, you guys stink." They returned to the living room, well most of them, Cap was still thinking about everything, Tony was curious how the duo spent the day.  
"So, what happened here while we were gone?"  
"Nothing happened, we just scratched a frying pan, that's it."  
"Well, that can happen. What were you guys cooking?" He asked.  
"Nothing, we ordered pizza. I threw it against the wall." Tony looked at her as if she grew two heads. "Why did you do that?"  
"I'm sorry, I was aiming at that weird guy but I missed."  
"What weird guy?" "One of those four evil agents that came to hack your servers and put a virus into them."  
"What?! Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I hit one with the pan and kicked the other one in the balls. He gave up after that. Mr. Fury took out the other two. Shield took them. We had a fun day."  
Nick grinned at the girl and they high-fived while Tony kept looking between with his mouth hanging open. "I promised her a trip to Shield, so don't make plans for Tuesday." Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Thor were laughing at Tony's expression.  
"One day and you already try to recruit her? Come on…"

 **Next up: Charlie hangs out with the Avengers and they have a lot of questions.**  
 _  
_


	6. Chapter 6

**The Avengers get the oportunity to talk to Charlotte while Tony goes to pick Pepper up. Natasha is interrorgating, Steve is fascinated with Peggy Junior and Clint is just doesn't trust a Stark... It will get tricky, but rest assured that it will eventually work out.**

Tony went to pick up Pepper from the airport in the morning. Charlotte went down to the empty common area. It didn't stay empty for long as the Avengers, curious about the newcomer, soon filled the room. Rather than coming in one by one, they entered all at once. Charlotte noticed them as a reflection on her laptop screen.  
"Good morning!" she said.  
"Morning!" the group said and soon joined Charlie in the living room. They sat a moment in silence, observing her.  
"Alright, my guess is that you have many questions. How about you start asking them, because this is getting creepy." She said looking at each one of them. Both Tony and Nick had warned her in advance this was going to happen. Clint grinned, this was a response from a Stark. Natasha was the first one to ask.  
"Your full name?"  
"Charlotte Peggy Stark."  
"How old are you?"  
"18, I'll be 19 in July."  
"When?"  
"7th."  
"Where has Tony been hiding you all this time?"  
"Let's see. Chronologically it would be New York, sometimes DC, then back to New York, Malibu, the MIT and now I'm back in New York."  
"My turn. The kid needs a break from you. Where is your mom?" said Clint earning a glare from Natasha for interrupting her. Charlie thought for a moment. Should she tell them about Peggy? No, for them that was her grandmother. Maria was her mom, her and Tony's. She loved her children more than anything.  
"In Washington." It wasn't a lie. Howard and Maria are buried in Arlington and Peggy lives in a retirement home there. Charlie managed to hold back tears, it wasn't something she wanted to discuss and she knew what they were thinking anyway. That she was nothing more than a product of a one-night stand. She also regretted not remembering her mom, Maria. The answer satisfied Clint. Captain America raised his hand.  
"Yes?"  
"Well, first, I'm sorry I walked out on you yesterday. It's just that…"  
"You loved grandma and I look like her, I know, dad explained. It's okay, it was a natural reaction. What would you like to know?"  
"How was she?"  
"She was awesome. She came around when she wasn't on a mission or at Shield, taught me a lot of stuff, like sneaking around, hiding and basic self defense. Before she retired, she took me to Shield a few times and showed me around. She got Alzheimer's two years ago, it's getting worse fast. If you want to, I could take you to see her. Well, dad would go too, since he doesn't let me go anywhere alone."  
"That would be great, thanks."  
Natasha remained suspicious.  
"Just game are you playing with us, kid?"  
"What makes you think I'm playing a game?"  
"Your existence. Something stinks here big. If Stark had a kid, it would be everywhere. But no, nothing up until yesterday. If you were really Peggy Carters granddaughter, that would make either your mother being her daughter, which could make sense, or Stark is her son. Starks parents were Howard and Maria, so I'm opting for the first option. Or even better, this is all just a big joke and Stark's already laughing his ass of."  
"I won't contradict, neither support this theory. It's interesting. Question is, is it also true?"Charlie said with a typical Stark grin. Unfortunately it only caused Natasha to ask one question after another.

Fury, who'd been at Shield to deal with the criminals from the previous day, joined the team.  
"I see you're already interrogating the kid."  
"Yes, we came to an unpleasant conclusion. Something's not right." Said Nat glaring at Charlotte.  
"Yeah, like what? Did she sneak up on you? Since you got nothing, I'm gonna need the kid. Charlotte, I wanted to talk about that trip to the Shield base you wanted. Don't scare my agents."  
"I can't make any promises, however I won't do it intentionally." She said with an innocent smile.  
"You're taking her to a Shield base? Sir, that's not a good idea, we just met her and though she is nice and all, but how do you know she's trustworthy?" asked Steve, not fond of the idea of an outsider roaming the halls of Shield. Natasha and Clint shared his opinion.  
"That's too risky. What if she can't keep secrets? It's Starks kid for crying out loud! We all know what he's like."  
"Yeah, he's right. There's something weird about her. She's a Stark on top of that."  
"Hey, give the kid a chance. You guys don't know her. She's really nice." protested Bruce. Thor agreeing with the scientist was looking back and forth between the two sides as they argued with Charlotte ducking behind him.  
"That's enough!" Fury yelled, causing Charlotte to hide completely behind Thor and everyone else to shut up. "She is going. It is my decision and I don't care about your opinion. Besides, she's been there a few times already anyway." Everyone looked at him. "I lied, ok. I met Charlotte when she was a kid. Director Carter would bring her around every so often, when her dad had to do business. Charlie's mom passed away when she was still a baby. I promised Peggy I'd make sure she was safe, kept away from everything. Peggy said one thing to me when she retired. To remember that she's as much a Carter as she is a Stark and so is Tony. And yes, she's exactly like Tony was when he was young. How about you leave the judging to after spending some time with her? Or at least hear Banner and Thor out, because they already did. Right now I'm considering her a lot more trustworthy than you. Sorry I left you alone here Charlie."  
"At least now I see what they think of my dad… You don't know him at all. He may not be a hero for you, but he is for me and I could care less what you think. Somehow I thought that you are his friends, but now I wonder what kind of team are you if you don't even know each other?" said Charlie and walked away. Fury's gaze followed her to the elevator. He then turned to the Avengers.  
"Satisfied? The kid has a point. You have to learn how to be a team, not only on missions. Get to know each other, trust each other. Accept the others, not scare them away like you did with the kid. Stark trusted you when he introduced her."

Meanwhile Charlotte was laying in one of the nets of the playground staring at the sky. It was cloudy, rain was starting to fall and it reflected her mood pretty well. She was right, they didn't like her. Cap was only interested because of Peggy, Clint obviously didn't like anyone with the name Stark and Natasha would have loved to hook her up on a lie detector. At least there were Bruce, Nick and Thor.  
"You know, I'm kind of getting too old for this stuff. Not to mention the trouble with my heart. Move, I'm gonna sit here." Tony's head popped up next to her. Charlie dried her eyes.  
"Where's Pepper?" "Unpacking. She still doesn't know you're here. So, what made you sad?"  
"Why don't people like me?" "How did you come up with that?"  
"The bullies at school, I don't have any friends and half of the Avengers would probably be glad if I didn't exist. That enough?" Tony looked into her eyes. Charlotte and other people didn't mix well. She'd been bullied at school, the friends she had, or thought she had turned out to be using her and threw her away like garbage once she was useless to them, telling her she will always be nothing. It was something Tony could relate to. Something he had so hard tried to avoid happening.  
"I know, honey. I've been through the same. People are much more complicated than robots. Sometimes they do stuff you can't explain the reason for. It's like a storm. The only thing we can do is wait for the rain to end. The sun will come out every time and sometimes there's a rainbow as a bonus." Before Charlie could say something else Peppers shouting filled the floor.  
"Tony! Where's the ceiling?" Tony looked at Charlie. They were busted. Tony jumped down first. "Hey, honey. To answer your question, the useless part of our ceiling was exchanged for a monkey playground. You know, to swing around and stuff." The Avengers, having heard Peppers shouts, were attracted to the floor.  
Pepper stood there in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips.  
"I'm gone for 2 weeks and you set up a monkey playground? Now tell me you actually got a monkey here so I can kill you." She meant it and Tony just grinned. "Monkey! Pepper wants to meet you!" Taking it as a codeword, Charlotte jumped down in the most elegant way she knew. When Pepper saw her, everyone else had to cover their ears. "Charlotte! Oh my god! You're here. No wonder Tony behaved so secretive. I missed you so much."  
"Pepper, don't choke her. She's too valuable." said Tony hugging both his girls, one arm around each one of them.  
Cap turned to Natasha with a smile. "You know, now that they're standing side by side, you have to admit they look alike."

 **Next up: Fury and Charlotte at Shield, Avengers interrorgate Tony for a change and Charlotte meets a ghost (or at least someone everyone thinks is dead).**


	7. Chapter 7

**Nick Fury takes Charlotte for a trip to the top secret base called Playground and of course plans never work out the way they are supposed to… In other words, a kind of alternate take on CA: The Winter Soldier, staring all the Avengers + Charlie. It will not follow the movie entirely. The chapter starts on the day after Steve and Natasha return from their mission on the Lemurian Star (I think that's what the ship was called). Enjoy the story!**

 **In this chapter guest starring Agent, the next one will have the cute (deadly) dude with the metal arm who seriously needs a new haircut…**

"Have fun kiddo, but not too much. We don't want Eye patch to have a heart attack."  
"Sure thing Dad. See you later."  
Tony watched as Charlotte entered the Quinjet with Nick Fury. Natasha and Clint watched uncomfortably as the jet left. They didn't think this was a good idea to take Stark junior to the Shield base. On the other hand, with the kid out of the tower it was a good opportunity to get some info out of her father. The kid had avoided them since they last spoke with her and her dad was hovering around her most of the time. As were Bruce and Thor.  
In the jet Nick Fury and Charlotte were going over their plan. "You have it?"  
"The ghost drive. We can sniff everywhere and no one will see us. Dad's work."  
"Did he just give it to you?" "Yes, all I had to say was that I wanted to see hidden Shield files. He didn't hesitate."  
"Nice job. I will leave you with a group of trustworthy people, they are 100% on our side. My next stop will be the Triskelion, I have a meeting with Pierce there. You got that access pass Peggy gave you?"  
"Of course. Plus the location of the hidden vaults and other places all stored safely in my head."  
"Well done. If anyone asks who you are…"  
"Agent Charlotte Carter, Peggy Carter's granddaughter and the new temporary addition to the team of Melinda May."  
"You learn quickly. A good friend of mine who knows the truth about you will babysit you all day. He's the only one you will be working with. Remember, whatever you see don't freak out."  
"Alright. Don't freak out, I can do that."

Soon they landed at the base. Charlottes babysitters were already waiting. "Agent May, agent Coulson I brought you a new team member. This is Agent Carter. Now agent Coulson, a word in private."  
Fury and Coulson stepped aside, leaving Charlotte with Melinda May. "Welcome aboard. You're Charlotte, right?"  
"That is correct. It's an honor to meet you."  
"How old are you again?" "18. I'll be 19 in July."  
"And already an agent, that's impressive." "Thank you, my training began when I was 2. When your grandmother is the Shields director, there is no lack of proper training, believe me."  
"Impressive. Director Fury only gave us some basic information. I believe you'll be a refreshing addition to our team." "Thank you."  
The men returned from their little chat. "Well, Agent Coulson, she is your responsibility now. Kid, don't tire them out too much and behave."  
"Yes sir." "Keep in mind this is just a temporary transfer, I will return for her in the evening. If I don't, Coulson already knows what to do."  
Fury left and Coulson with May led Charlie to their teams' headquarters. May was called away, leaving Coulson alone with Charlie. "Welcome to the Playground, miss Stark. I believe you have some questions." "Yes. You're alive? Dad told me you died."  
"Well, he wasn't wrong. I did die, but they managed to bring me back to life. I was recovering in Tahiti afterwards. Not even Romanoff and Barton know, you can't tell them, alright?"  
"I promise. So I believe you're the trustworthy person then."  
"Correct again. You have what you need?"  
"Sure. Let's get started."  
Coulson and Charlotte started with their mission. Coulson acted as if he was giving the new agent a tour of the facility. Not much later, they reached the server room. The technicians were on a lunch break, which meant the duo had the room for themselves. Not moving her head Charlotte observed the cameras. She was pretending to be listening to Coulson who was pretending to explain what the server room is for. Quickly doing the necessary math in her head she found the dead angles of the cameras. "Wow, this is surely the most secure server I've ever seen. Mind if I take a closer look? I'm a bit of a geek."  
"Not a problem, Agent Carter." Moving into one of them as if she went to take a closer look at something, she plugged the miniature USB into the back of the server where no one would notice.  
"It's really impressive, Agent Coulson. What is our next destination?" Coulson knew Charlotte had managed to complete her part of the task.  
"My office. We have to get started on our mission."

Back at the Avengers Tower Tony was trapped by his teammates who had many questions. Well, maybe not trapped, but no matter where he went one of them always followed, so he called everyone to the living room. Steve was back in DC, he and Natasha apparently got into some kind of argument after their mission the day before.  
"I'm tired of you breathing down my neck all the time, so we might as well get over with it. What do you want to know?"  
"Let's start with why no one knew. How it is possible there is no file on her anywhere? We double-checked all Shield archives, everything. It's like she doesn't exist. No Charlotte Stark." Natasha threw the empty file on the table. She hated not knowing…  
"Well, they exist, they are just not digitalized and on Shield servers. However, under a different name. As for the why… If you had a child, your own flesh and blood, wouldn't you do anything to keep them safe? Give them a normal life without having to worry someone would kidnap them just because of their name and family ties? I have been there and trust me it sucks, so when I got the chance to do things different guess what, I took it. Peggy helped me with the formalities, babysat when I needed her to and Charlotte? She got to have a more or less normal childhood, spent some it at the Playground and she loved it."  
"I bet, kids love playgrounds."  
"Not that kind of playground Barton. The Playground, as in the super secret Shield base. The Triskelion as well, if I remember correctly, which I always do."  
"Stark, you're making this up. There is no way anyone would allow a child run around a Shield base."  
"If you say so. Next question?"  
"Why does she look like Cap's ex?" asked Clint.  
"Recessive genes, I guess. Takes after her mother, but she still got my eyes. Bruce would be better at explaining this." Tony pointed at Bruce.  
Natasha stepped in: "Who's her mother?"  
"I don't want to discuss this." "Too bad, you will have to."  
"No, I don't."  
"I will get this information somehow, Stark. Either you tell me or I will get it out of the girl. Make a choice."  
Tony looked at Natasha horrified: "You wouldn't do that. Leave her out of this, she didn't even know her mom."  
"Then let us see her birth certificate."  
"It's not here. It's hidden."  
"Are you sure?" "Romanoff, have you been digging in my stuff again?"  
"No. I typed Charlotte Carter and her birth date into the database. Guess what. Charlotte is the child of Elizabeth and Edward died on the 16th of December 1991 in an accident. Edward died 2 years ago. She's not your daughter, never was. You just used her as a potential heir…"  
"Stop it! I did the right thing back then, no matter what are you going to accuse me off. Hell, feel free to, but leave my baby out of it." With that Tony stormed out of the room with Bruce calling out after him. To Bruce the date of death of Charlottes mother was the final piece of the puzzle.  
"Was that necessary, Nat?"  
"Do you think he would tell us the truth?"  
"Do you think this is the truth? When I met Charlotte, it was at the Stark Mansion. The house was full of pictures of her growing up. Tony was in most of them. He loves her more than anything. I'm going to talk to him. "  
"Wait for me, I shall accompany you to friend Stark." said Thor and went with Bruce. Clint looked at Nat.  
"Great, now we won't find out a thing."  
"You shouldn't have pushed him so far, Natasha. He said himself they made up a cover to protect her."  
"Clint, come on, can you imagine Stark changing diapers?"  
"No, but you may be interested in a piece of info I found."  
"And that would be what, Clint?"  
"Starks full name. Anthony Edward Stark. Edward, Natasha, like Edward Carter. His mother died along with her husband Howard on December 16th 1991 in a car crash."

"These can't stay here. Fury was clear that whatever we find has to be moved to a secure place." Agent Phil Coulson was looking around the huge collection of files in the hidden vault Charlotte found.  
"Just how do we move them without anyone noticing?"  
"I have an idea. Do you have those big net trolleys?"  
"Yes, of course."  
"We also need something to cover the boxes and if someone asks it's a level 10 transport."  
"Alright, that could work. I'll call Fury to get here."

"Tony are you in here?" Bruce said entering the floor with Thor in tow. Soon they saw Tony laying in the net staring at the sky. "I kind of get why she comes here to think. You just stare at nothing."  
"Yeah, I'm sure it's interesting to stare into nothing. Surely she comes up with impressive ideas up there. My bet is that your little sister has a wild imagination."  
"If you only knew. Wait how did you…?" Tony jumped down from the net.  
"Figure it out? I had my suspicion when Charlotte was showing me the pictures the first time I met her. No other woman beside your mother and Peggy Carter was anywhere in them. Besides her real name is Charlotte Peggy Carter-Stark. I began to wonder why. When Fury said she was as much a Carter as she was a Stark, that the same goes for you and it all started to fit in. Peggy had a son and a daughter."  
"Well, you got me. She really is my sister. She knows it, we told her the truth when she was 8."  
"Friend Stark, why didn't you tell them right away she was your sister?"  
"It's complicated, Thor. I only told Pepper last Christmas... It is a lot easier to tell people she's my daughter. They believe it. No one would believe I raised my sister."

Fury couldn't make it to the base, so he ordered Coulson to send the documents to the Stark Tower along with Charlotte right away. "Don't trust anyone and have the older sibling analyze the data…!" A loud noise was heard in the background. As if something crashed into Fury's car. This was the last time they heard from Fury. Not long after, the word came in. Nick Fury was dead. Coulson and Charlie had already managed to load all the files by the time the news came. They quickly took the USB from the servers, snatched the hard drive with the data from Coulsons office. Then calm as possible not to attract any attention they boarded the Quinjet and left. Coulson could see the tears Charlotte was holding back, no matter how good she was at it. Hell, he was having trouble to remain calm. This was Nick Fury they lost, someone they knew.  
Out of the window, the Avengers (without Natasha who was called away by Steve, perhaps he wanted to make up or something) watched the Quinjet approach. Tony ran to the platform. It was way too early for them to come back, which meant something was wrong. He was proven right once the platform opened and a teary Charlotte ran to him. "Fury, why…" he stopped when he realized it wasn't Nick Fury who brought his girl back. Coulson was looking at him with regret.  
"What happened?" "Director Fury is dead, Stark. His last orders were to get all of this to you to analyze. I think that's why he was killed."  
"Who…?" "I don't know. The answer should be here. Where can we put the cargo?"  
"Right here to the living room. How come you're alive?"  
"That's a long story and we don't have time for it right now."  
"Right, let's get this inside. What are these?"  
While the two men were talking, Charlotte had already gotten two of the boxes inside and was setting up the computer. Tony and the remaining Avengers stocked everything inside with Coulson giving them the story about his recovery in Tahiti. Clint inspected the boxes, he hadn't seen them before.  
"Where are those from, Coulson?"  
"The Playground, a hidden vault Agent Carter had built. I'm only seeing them for the first time."  
"I didn't know it had hidden vaults as well."  
"We knew about their existence, but not their location. There was only one person Peggy Carter gave it to. Or two perhaps? Stark?"  
"No, but I could find out if I wanted. The original plans are at my old mansion. She taught Charlotte where they are."  
Charlotte looked up from the screen horrified. "Ahm, guys, you might want to see this…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello there! First I'd like to thank everyone for those wonderful reviews, you guys are so nice. Second, I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but school keeps me very busy. This chapter is a different version of the Winter Soldier.  
In case you guys have any suggestions, requests feel free to let me know. **

_Charlotte looked up from the screen horrified. "Ahm, guys, you might want to see this…"  
_ The Avengers quickly surrounded the monitor.  
"I don't like this." Said Coulson.  
"Could you be more specific?" asked Tony wondering.  
"Project Insight wasn't supposed to be activated for a month, now Pierce wants to do it this week."  
While the group was analyzing the e-mails she found, Charlotte had moved to the boxes they brought back. They were numbered, obviously Peggy's job, so Charlotte picked number one and opened the first file. There was a letter, so she began reading. Sometime later, she lifted her head and asked: "Shield keeps a nine headed snake?"  
The group looked at her in confusion. "What?" asked Coulson.  
"Well, Peggy writes here that she believes a hydra is at Shield, but she can't prove it."  
"Hydra? That's impossible." Said Coulson.  
"So there is no snake?"  
"No, Hydra was an authoritarian terrorist-criminal-paramilitary organization bent on world domination. We thought Captain America defeated it."  
"Apparently not… Peggy didn't seem to think it either. Few years ago she told me that when they founded Shield, they made a terrible mistake." Said Tony taking the letter Charlotte was handing him.  
"Did she mention a certain Armin Zola?"  
"Yes, that she did. Alright, we have to get our hands on everything we can, so start going over those files and somebody call Romanoff and Rogers. I don't care if they're making out or whatever, just get them here. We have a situation."  
"And where are you going?" asked Clint.  
"The old mansion, there is something that could help us." Said Tony grabbing the keys to his R8 and hurried out.

Maria Hill, Natasha, Wilson and Steve were sitting in a room where Nick Fury was resting.  
"…good to know they're alive. We need them back here."  
"The Winter soldier is trying to kill us all, I don't think we could send them over without alerting him."  
"Alright, they are not useful if they're dead and neither are we. I'll call if we have something new. Tell boss the siblings found the rat, but it was a snake instead. The older one went to fetch the cage plans."  
"I will pass the message on." Hill hung up and translated Coulson's exact words to Fury who was the only one to actually understand the reference.

"Got it." Said Tony entering the room.  
"What exactly have you found?"  
"Plans for Shield bases. Project Insight is stationed at the Triskelion, right?"  
"Yes." Said Clint and watched as Tony took out a bunch of blueprints, plans and designs. Charlotte was next to them within seconds and dug through the papers.  
"Here, this is the one you're looking for." Tony said handing the plan to his sister.  
"I found the second part." She said as the Starks (or Carters) made their way to the big dining table. The Avengers and Phil followed. "What exactly did you find?"  
"A way in." said Tony exchanging a look with his sister.

"The Avengers are working on finding everything," said Hill pacing around the room.  
"Can we be sure there is no Hydra agent among us? Among them?" asked Natasha looking around.  
"Who would it be? The only Shield agent there is Barton," answered Fury.  
"Starks kid? We don't know anything about her."  
"Stark has a kid?" asked Maria.  
"That is a story for another time, Agent Hill. Now we have to focus on stopping Hydra."  
"Well, they said Pierce was pressing on Insight to be launched in this week…"

The Winter Soldier was luring. His mission was to eliminate Captain America and Natasha Romanoff. Nick Fury was already of the list. The others were none of his business. Captain America, he looked somehow familiar to him. Who was the Bucky he spoke of? It was a question that kept repeating in his head along with fragments of dreams? Memories, perhaps? Random names were popping up in his mind. Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, the Howling Commandoes, Howard Stark, Red Skull, Zola… Who were they?

"I didn't know it had this existed." said Coulson looking at the plans.  
"Me neither, I don't think anyone knew. How did you even get your hands on this stuff Stark?"  
"Easily. I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret."  
"Alright, I will tell no one."  
"Not even Romanoff?" "Not even her."  
"My mother gave them to me."  
"That's it? Was she an agent in Shield or the architect?"  
"No, my biological mother was one of its founders along with my father." It took Clint a while to put it all together.  
"Wait, your mother was Steves ex-girlfriend?"  
"That's also a way of putting it." "Explains a lot, like why your daughter looks like her."  
"Yeah, it's a bit more complicated than that. Leave questions for later, now we have to stop Hydra from killing us all. How are we with Romanoff and Rogers?"  
"They are being hunted by the Winter soldier. I'll pass the message on and we'll meet at the Triskellion." Said Coulson as he dialed Hill.  
The Avengers went to gear up and Tony turned to Charlotte. "You did a great job, kid. Now what I want you to do is stay here." Charlotte was about to protest but Tony held up his hand stopping her. "Bruce is also staying. The two of you will be our eyes and ears and in case anything goes wrong, you are to get out of here. Please, today I really need you to listen to me."  
"Don't I always?"  
"Yes, that you do and I'm really thankful for that. Now I have something I want to show you before I leave." Tony pulled her to his lab/armory. Once there he opened one of the safes.  
"Isn't that too small for you?" "Yes, but not for you. Don't tell Pepper, she'd kill me if she knew I built you a suit."  
"I won't, but only if you promise to teach me how to fly it when you come back."  
"Come on, you're smart enough to figure it out."  
"Then promise me you'll come back alive." Now Tony understood what she meant. He wrapped his arms around her. "I promise."

The Quinjet was ready to depart by the time Tony arrived upstairs. Before the hatch closed Charlotte called out: "Tony!"  
"What, kiddo?"  
"Those a-holes damaged our parents' reputation. Kick their asses for me, will you? " "You can bet on that," said Tony smirking. Man, he loved his baby sister.

The Avengers met up with Cap, Falcon and Maria Hill next to the hidden entrance. The Winter soldier was nowhere to be found. Cap and Falcon went to warn all the agents about Hydra while Iron Man and Thor went to make sure the Helicarriers would never go in the air. Hawkeye, Hill and Coulson went to help with Rumlow and his crew.  
Back at the Tower, Charlotte and Bruce were navigating Tony and Thor through the hidden corridors to the hangar:  
"Guys, turn left and proceed straight ahead."  
"Understood, left and straight ahead." came a reply from Tony.  
Their job was done once the duo reached the helicarriers. Now all they could do was sit, watch the action through Iron Mans cameras and listen to what was being said over the intercom.

The Winter Soldier landed on the roof of the Avengers Tower. With the Avengers about to destroy Hydras plans, he was sent to anger the Hulk so that the Avengers would have to deal with him destroying NY instead of Hydra. The shattering of glass alerted Bruce and Charlie. They were supposed to be alone. Switching the monitors to the cameras inside the tower, they spotted their company. He was coming for them. Bruce switched the screens back and dragged Charlie out of the room. "Even if we're not trapped in one room anymore, there is no way to get past him to the elevator." whispered Bruce.  
"We could distract him. Jarvis play some music in the bathroom." whispered Charlie. Music started playing loud enough to be heard, but the Winter Soldier only moved his head towards the noise. "Damn it, I thought he would leave the room."  
"Apparently he is well trained." "That doesn't help us much, does it Dr Banner?"  
"No, it doesn't. We should call the Avengers."  
"No, that's what they want. If we did, Hydra would win and we can't allow that."  
"Do you have a better plan? Because from where I stand, we're both useless right now. The armory is above us, we don't have weapons."  
"Hulk?" "I think that's what he came for."  
"That would make sense. There is one more thing, but I have to get closer to him."  
"Are you seriously considering hand-to-hand combat with an assassin? No way in hell."  
Unfortunately, the Winter Soldier turned his head in their direction. He found them.

The battle against Hydra had been a success. Thor and Tony managed to damage the Helicarriers so that they wouldn't be able to fly. Pierce was killed; many Hydra agents arrested and the files had been released to the public. The inhabitants of Washington never knew what went on in the big building over Potomac River. Alternatively, under the river. One question remained in everyone's head as they were returning to the Avengers tower. Where was the Winter Soldier?

Bruce was trying to make sense of what had happened in the last few minutes. First they were found, then he started chasing them while firing at them and by some miracle always missed. He had managed to corner them and was ready to shoot them, when Charlotte kicked the gun out of his hand. That still wasn't the weird part. The result of the weird part was the Winter Soldier unconscious or dead on the floor in front of him. Charlotte was leaning against the wall, pale and exhausted.  
"Are you alright? Is he dead?"  
"Yes and no. He's asleep. I'll be fine, don't worry."  
"How did you do this? You just touched him and he was down."  
"Yes, I'll tell you everything, but first we have to put him somewhere, make sure he doesn't run off or something." Charlotte said slowly standing up. They dragged him to the so-called Hulk cage, a training room designed to contain Hulk in case of emergency. Bruce and Tony designed it and if it could contain the Hulk, one assassin shouldn't be able to escape it either.  
"So, now that this problem is taken care of. How did you do that?"  
"When I touch someone I can control their mind. I can make them go to sleep, control their emotions, calm them down, but only as long as there is direct contact."  
"That's amazing. But how is it possible? Can Tony do the same?"  
"No, he cannot, but his children probably will. Mother and father were old when I was born. To make sure I was going to be healthy and a girl, there was some sort of manipulation with the genes. The scientists accidently activated a special gene that enables this. No one knew until I was about 8. Tony has it as a recessive gene."  
"Your brother did say you were a lot more special than any of us thought."  
"He and Peggy always said it was a gift."  
"It is…An incredible one," said Bruce. Jarvis announced the arrival of the team.

The Avengers were welcomed by complete silence. Unusual silence.  
"Jarvis, where are they?"  
"Dr. Banner is on his way, sir."  
Soon Bruce emerged from the behind the corner.  
"So I take it we won?" asked Bruce.  
"Yes, we won the battle, but not the war. Hydra's still out there and so is the Winter Soldier. This is Falcon, our new team member," said Cap as Bruce and Sam shook hands. Bruce then exchanged a look with Charlotte. Natasha spotted the glass shards on the floor.  
"Why is the window broken?" everyone looked at the hole and then back at Bruce.  
"Why do I have the feeling I won't like the answer? Where is Charlotte?" asked Tony with a mixture of fear and desperation in his voice.  
"She's fine, don't worry. But we know where the Winter Soldier is."  
"How did you find him?" asked Cap before anyone else could react.  
"We didn't. He found us…"

Charlotte was observing her prisoner. Never before had she felt this scared, she was still trembling. He looked dangerous even when he was sleeping. The metal arm was making her shiver. She knew he felt lost, confused, he was in pain. She couldn't help but feel sad for him. Who was he before they turned him into a killing machine? Her thoughts were interrupted by the Avengers, who came running in. Everyone stared at the body on the floor.  
"Is he dead?" asked Steve worried.  
"No, just knocked out." answered Bruce.  
"He looks pretty well for being knocked out by the Hulk."  
"It wasn't me. Charlie did that. It was incredible. One moment he's about to kill us, the next he was on the floor." There was silence in the room, uncomfortable heavy silence. Charlotte felt a pair of strong arms around her. Carefully she turned around and looked up. Her brother smiled down at her and pulled her closer to him. "It's okay, you're safe now." The sound of his heart calmed her down… She was safe.

 **Bucky will return in the next chapter… as will Pepper and she won't like the broken window…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy New Year! I wish you all the best. May this year be even better than the last one and may you always be surrounded by hope. Cheers to a better life and a bright future.**

 **Now I want to apologize for the delay in updating, I had a bit of a creative block or something like that. In order to get rid of the Winter Soldier (not Bucky that one is staying) the Avengers are getting temporary help from Tony's old friend and Charlies babysitter at the MIT, Emily. She's a slightly different version of my OC from another story (because I really couldn't come up with an idea how to solve it any other way- Tony wouldn't let Charlotte into the cage with an assassin).**

 **In case anyone hadn't seen Civil War (the ending in the bunker), SPOILER ALERT, a secret will be revealed. Have fun reading…**

Pepper had just returned from work and all she wanted was some peace. Looking at the mess, she knew it was going to have to wait. The expensive window in the living room was shattered on the floor and the gang was nowhere to be found. She looked around. Besides the window, there were no other damages. Where they training in the living room? She hoped they had a better explanation. Jarvis told her they were on Tony's floor.

Upstairs, the whole gang was gathered by the bar. Tony went to calm Charlotte down. The young girl was visibly shaken by everything that happened in the past few days. The remaining Avengers were debating what to do with the assassin when Pepper walked in.  
"Someone better explain the mess downstairs! Now!" The Avengers looked up from their debate. Pepper looked scary and intimidating.  
"We…ahm…" started Bruce.  
"…have been training in the living room? Is that what you want to say?"  
"No, why would we be training in the living room?" asked Clint, confused by the implication.  
"Then explain the broken window."  
"If you could keep your voice down, I will, but please, calm down." Said Tony slowly descending the stairs. His voice was so soft and calm it took everyone by surprise. He looked tired, concerned and somehow older. Perhaps it was the dimmed light that made him look that way. It was however enough to make Pepper speak in a normal tone of voice.  
"What happened here, Tony? Where's Charlie?"  
"She's upstairs, fell asleep. The kid's had enough. As for the broken window, I already called, it will be replaced in 2 days. An assassin broke into the tower, but Bruce and Charlie handled him. He's locked in the Hulk cage."  
"Oh, my… Is she alright?"  
"No injuries. She's scared. What kind of father am I to put my kid into this kind of a mess? I never wanted this to happen, Pep, I thought she would be safe here, instead she already got to meet 4 of Hammers agents and the world's best assassin. That is just the past few days. Anyone else wants a drink? I sure do." The others joined in. It had been a long day for all of them. They told Pepper everything that happened while she was gone, there was no point in keeping it from her.  
Eventually they all went to their beds. Well, almost. Steve decided to check up on Bucky. The Winter Soldier was motionless on the floor. Steve remembered the great times he had with Bucky growing up. He thought he lost everyone, now he learned that both Peggy and Bucky were alive. Just that Bucky is an assassin that belongs to Hydra. Does he remember him? Or his old life? The Winter Soldier still wasn't showing signs of waking up and Steve decided to call it a night. 

When the Avengers reunited in Tony's apartment in the morning, they met up with Pepper and Charlie in the kitchen. Tony was on the phone with someone. Over breakfast they discussed why the assassin wasn't waking up or what to do with him once he wakes up. After a while, Tony finally joined them.  
"Charlie, guess who's coming over today?"  
"Coulson?"  
"No, your mom. And she wants to talk to you." Charlottes face lit up as Tony handed her the phone. She ran to her room. However, it wasn't Peggy's voice she heard coming from the speaker. It was her guardian and best (and only) friend Emily. She was the one who looked after Charlie when both Tony and Peggy couldn't. Eventually Emily had to return to the HQ of her company not far from the MIT, but made sure to visit them every time she had the chance. Not to mention the many trips Charlotte and Tony took to see her. It was Em who taught Charlie how to use her powers and kept her safe and sound (Tony's words) during her school years and stood by her side when Tony went missing.  
Emily explained the plan Tony had come up with to Charlotte. It was to keep the Avengers from wondering about CC's mother and finally stop asking questions. Also, he wanted information from the Winter Soldiers head and Charlie obviously needed some comforting after the past few days. Then Charlotte told her everything that had happened.  
"… and now he won't wake up. What did I do wrong?"  
"It's nothing that can't be fixed. Besides you had no other choice, you did great. You saved Bruce and many people. Imagine if he really got the Hulk, that wouldn't have ended well."  
"Yeah, you're probably right. When will you be here?"  
"How do 15 minutes sound?"

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, the crew had finished eating. They were debating the plan of the day.  
"So, your ex is going to help us with that guy?" asked Bruce adding sugar to his tea.  
"Yes, she said she should be able to get anything out of his head and then she'll take him into custody."  
"Why should we allow it? He can stay in custody here in the Tower."  
"Cap, we don't have a prison. He cannot stay here."  
"Tony, I've know Bucky. He isn't a bad person. I think he even remembered me."  
"Did he? Or is it just your wishful thinking? Do you realize we are talking about Hydras most feared assassin that broke into the tower in the centre of NY yesterday and tried to kill Bruce and MY DAUGHTER? What if he had succeeded, brought out the Hulk? How many causalities would there be? Not to mention if Pepper came home from work earlier, he would have killed her too. You may be the leader, but this is still my tower and that means my rules. End of the discussion, Rogers."  
The others couldn't do anything but agree with Tony. For the first time ever, he had a point and even Natasha and Clint could not argue it. Pepper wondered if Tony ever had to use a similar sentence on his kid. Charlotte came down the stairs with a huge grin on her face. Not much later JARVIS announced the visitor.  
Charlie ran to the door and as soon as it opened, she jumped into Ems arms. "I missed you so much."  
"I missed you too, kiddo. The house is too quiet now that you're not there." Charlie then dragged Emily to the Avengers. "Mom, those are the Avengers. Guys, this is my mom, Emily."  
"Hello, it's really nice to meet you. Charlotte has told me so much about you."  
"I wouldn't believe everything, if I were you." said Natasha wondering what the kid said. Tony pulled her into a hug before anyone else could say some more and whispered:  
"Thanks for agreeing on this game. You saved me some headache."  
"No problem. Anytime."  
Then it was Peppers turn. "Em, it's good to see you again. How have you been?"  
"Well, you know, same old. And you? I heard it's quite crazy here, how do you manage that?"  
"I'm doing my best."  
Tony interrupted the girls chatting. It could wait, but the assassin could not. Both Charlotte and Pepper accompanied the Avengers to the Hulk cage. The prisoner was already wide awake glaring at them.  
"That's him."  
"Oh, yeah. We've met before on a few occasions. But he ran as soon as we got close to him. He always has a target, one mission and he does not like witnesses."  
"Good to know. What's your plan?"  
"Get in, talk, see if he's willing to cooperate and then improvise."  
"Stage is yours."  
Not so surprisingly as soon as the door opened, the Winter Soldier made a run for them. Emily stopped him and threw him against the opposite wall. Even Natasha looked impressed by the move. While Emily was doing her best to make the prisoner to cooperate on his free will, Tony filled the gang in.  
"She was one of Shields best agents, Peggy took a great interest in her and trained her. I met her at the MIT, we were classmates. At some point, we started dating, it wasn't really working, we broke up, but for the sake of Charlotte we made up and there are no hard feelings between us. Never were, now that I think of it. Anyway, now you understand the misleading info in the birth certificate. Kids of Shield agents are always in danger. We didn't want that for Charlotte."  
Meanwhile Emily had lost interest in fighting with the Winter Soldier. She was now doing exactly what Tony called her for – using her own telepathic abilities to get the assassin to cooperate and gain useful information out of his brain. Something inside it wasn't right at all. Once she had what she needed, she put Bucky to sleep. He needed the rest.

"What did you find out?" asked Tony.  
"His order was to provoke Hulk, so that you all had to return to New York and save it. No one had counted with Charlotte being her too."  
"Why is he like this? The Bucky I knew wouldn't do these things."  
"I am getting to it, Mr. Rogers. That poor thing has been through a lot. Hydra had gotten his hands on him and reprogrammed his brain. He had no other choice but to obey their order. He got orders directly from Pierce or whoever was bossing Hydra around at the time. The good news is that your Bucky is still somewhere underneath that huge amount of crap in his head. I know he is. The programming itself can be undone, it's hard, but not impossible."  
"Can you do that?"  
"Yes, but not right now. If I did, I could damage his brain after the amount of digging around in there. I will take him with me and when it's done, I'll let you know."  
Cap nodded and Emily turned her attention to Tony. She sent him a telepathic message: _'Could we talk? In private?'_ Tony nodded and led her to his lab saying that he needed her to see the new something he made. The lab was the once place he was sure no one could spy on them. It was soundproof and the vents were too small for Birdbrain and Romanoff to climb through. Once the lab door closed, they were alone.  
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked.  
"It would be better if you sat down." Tony obeyed and Emily slowly started talking.  
"When I was going through his memories, I saw all of his victims. There were a lot of them, obviously, murdered because they were too dangerous for Hydra…"  
"Em, what is it? It's not like you to talk at a snail's pace. What are you trying to tell me?"  
"Tony, it's just hard, alright? Among his victims were your parents. It wasn't an accident that took their lives. I'm sorry, Tony."

 **How will Tony react to the news? Will he tell his teammates or not? What about Charlie? Will Bucky be the same person from Steve's memory, or is his old friend lost forever?**

 **Coming soon…**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone, I'm back! Kind of. Finals are over. Sorry it took me so long to update, I will try to be better next time.  
Thank you for the wonderful reviews, I'm glad you guys like the story. I hope not to disappoint you in the future. **

**Have fun reading…**

Chapter 10

Tony just stared into the wall in front of him. Silent tears were falling on the grey floor of the lab. Emily had one arm around him as he put his head on her shoulder. She knew how he felt; her mother was murdered when she was still a child, taken from this world without having done anything wrong.  
Tony always kept his emotions buried deep, hidden from everyone to see, but he also knew Emily was one of the few people who could read him like an open book. In his heart, he felt empty. A shear of nothingness had taken hold of his soul. His breathing started to get heavier and his heart was racing. Tony was shaking; he wasn't paying attention to anything around him. He felt the urge to run, escape from everything. Emily immediately noticed something was wrong. She held him close to her, rocked him back and forth and could only hope it would calm him. Tony was firmly holding on to his friend. Hours passed, or perhaps minutes, he couldn't tell, but his heart finally calmed down. He turned his head to face Emily, who offered him a comforting smile and wiped the remaining tears from his face.

Upstairs the Avengers were getting curious about the whereabouts of the duo. They have been in the lab for an entire hour now and Pepper didn't like it.  
"What's taking them so long?"  
"Pep, he's probably geeking out about something he build. You don't seriously think he'd cheat on you with his ex, do you?" asked Bruce. Before Pepper could answer, Falcon added his own thoughts.  
"Well, she's pretty hot plus we all know of Starks past with the ladies."  
Everyone glared at him. Pepper was on the verge on running to the lab, when Emily entered the room. Charlotte run up to her.  
"Did he show you The Thing?" she asked. Emily suspected Charlie was referring to the armor Tony had made for his little girl.  
"Yes, he did. It is very impressive. Now, Charlie, your dad and I need to talk to you about something."  
"Am I finally getting a sibling?" this was not something Emily had expected to be asked.  
"What? No. Why would you think… Never mind. Just go to your room, Tony's already waiting for you."  
"Alright." Charlotte stated as she skipped away. Emily watched the cheery girl knowing it would only be a few minutes until it changed. She then turned back to the Avengers.  
"We'll be right back," she said and walked away, hoping no one noticed the tears forming in her eyes.

Charlotte entered her room and saw Tony sitting on the bed. He looked up at her and patted the bed. She sat down next to him as Emily entered the room. She closed the door behind her and sat behind the duo. The reason she was there was because Tony insisted on some kind of emotional support.  
"So, since this is not about getting a sibling, what did you two want to talk about?"  
Tony exchanged a confused look with Emily. "Hey, don't look at me, I don't know how she got this idea." she replied. Tony looked back at Charlie.  
"Lottie, I need to tell you something important. You are a big girl and you have every right to know about it… You know the thing is… Gosh, this is hard… Our mother and father, the car crash wasn't an accident, Charlie. The guy that was after you and Bruce yesterday, he killed them."  
Charlotte gave him a sad look and cuddled up on his chest. She didn't know what else to do. She only knew her parents from pictures and tales, but at the same time, she was angry and sad because someone took them away from her. She wrapped her arms around her brother and pulled Emily into the hug as well. For a moment they stayed like this, like in the old times. Deep inside they all knew that even if they were apart, they would always be a family and could always count on each other to rely on and with the Avengers and Pepper, their little family would only expand…

Not much later the trio joined the others downstairs. They were of course curious what they were talking about for so long, to which Tony simply replied: "Parenting."  
Charlie dragged Emily to the kitchen counter, where Pepper was standing for a girls talk.  
"Sooo. What about you and Thomas?" she asked with a grin. Emily blushed and didn't go unnoticed by Pepper. "Who's Thomas?"  
"Thomas Ikol is her boyfriend. He's really cute and he's from England."  
"Cute, huh? You got pics, Em?"  
"Well, I do. Although I'm not sure if boyfriend is the correct title. We're not really dating." Em answered scrolling through her phone.  
"He does write you love letters. I think boyfriend is appropriate. Plus he's male, at least he seems to be."  
"I think that's a good argument. Here, this is Tom." Thomas had fair skin, medium length curly black hair, big blue eyes and a sweet smile. He was wearing a black leather jacket.  
"Wow, he really looks like a prince from Disney. Where did you find that one?"  
"We met on a conference in Boston. Turns out he had recently moved to the States from the UK, we started talking and stuff. He was really nice, invited me out and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, he's a real genius and a master strategist as it turns out."  
"When do we get to meet him?" inquired Pepper.  
"Someday…" Emily replied and looked at the clock. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I should go now. It's team night."  
With that she went to collect Bucky and boarded the jet parked in front of the Avengers Tower.  
"Say hi to the guys from me."  
"I will. Come here, kiddo. I miss you already. When you guys are free, perhaps you could make a road trip."  
"Oh, count on us."  
"Ok, I will bring Bucky back as soon as I can. Till then, take care."

Some days later, Thor returned to Asgard. Guards were everywhere as if searching for someone.  
"Heimdall, what has happened here in my absence?"  
"Loki escaped from prison. No one can find him and I can't see him." 

**So, Loki escaped prison… Where is the prince with black hair and blue eyes hiding?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone and I'm sorry. I didn't think it would take me this long to update. I will try to be better, since my other story is finished (finally), and update more often. Enjoy this chapter, I hope not to disappoint you.**

As promised, Emily returned Bucky in a matter of weeks free of the Winter Soldier program and after a few rounds of therapy. She and her crew also taught him some basic stuff to get around in the 21st century so he wouldn't feel so lost. Tony found that Bucky wasn't that bad. Bucky had apologized to him the second he returned and Tony understood that he was not acting on his free will. Plus Bucky seemed to be a bit of a tech geek as well. With days passing everyone, including Charlotte who was scared at first, grew accustomed to the new addition in the tower. Steve was happy to have his old friend back and Natasha and Clint finally got a worthy sparring partner. Thor was still on Asgard, so he had yet to meet the new teammate.

Charlotte was getting ready for a weeklong trip to Boston to spend time with Emily. Even though she somehow grew used to living in NY, she missed the peace and quiet the house in Boston provided. That and it wasn't under attack at least once a week. Emily wasn't entirely fond of that and neither was Pepper, which is why Tony was now reconstructing old warehouses behind the city to build a new and more secure facility.  
At 3PM on Friday, Emily landed in front of the tower. Charlotte was waiting for her in the living room with the other Avengers and Pepper.  
"Hey guys, I came to free you from babysitting duty." Em said entering the common area.  
"Tony, you didn't mention she was taking you as well." said Natasha with a smirk.  
The billionaire growled at Natasha who just kept painting her nails. The others just watched them with amusement.  
Tony had offered to take Charlie's luggage to the jet. Not that they were heavy or anything, he just wanted to talk to Emily alone. During their conversation, he had noticed something wasn't right with her. The second Charlotte disappeared inside the jet, he turned to his old friend.  
"What's wrong?" he asked looking her directly in the eyes.  
"It's nothing. I'm fine."  
"Nothing doesn't cause that look. I know it. Something is bothering you. Is it the boyfriend of yours?"  
"No, he's not the main problem. It's just that I found out that those weird dreams I've been having weren't dreams."  
"What else were they?"  
"Memories, Tony."  
"So they're coming back, that's a good thing."  
"Yeah, I guess. They're just causing me a big headache, that's all."  
"If you need to talk about it, you know where I am. And if your buddy needs to get his ass kicked, just give us a call."  
Emily smiled at him, but before she could reply, Charlotte interrupted them.  
"Are you going to make out, or what? I wouldn't mind, just tell me so I can go wait somewhere that's less boring."  
Both adults rolled their eyes.  
"You know, it's kind of adorable she still wants us back together after all this time." said Tony watching his little girl stand on the ramp.  
"Well, I guess it is. We should really go now."  
Tony followed her into the jet with the bags. It was brand new, equipped with top of the line tech. If he had more time, Tony would have inspected every inch of it. Charlotte had taken her place as the copilot while Emily was getting all systems online.  
"Well then, ladies. Have a fun week and I'll see you next Sunday. Fly safe."  
"We will." said Emily as Tony leaned down to kiss Charlotte goodbye. He then turned to Emily, gave her a kiss on the cheek and left. Only after he entered the tower he realized what he'd caused. Inside the jet, a surprised Emily had to deal with a squealing Charlotte. This was going to be a long flight.

Meanwhile on Asgard the search for Loki continued. The trickster was nowhere to be found. Thor had decided to try search different realms. Given Loki knew secret passages it was unlikely he'd still be on Asgard. It turned out the prince had been gone for months now. Where could he be?

Tony returned to the common area of the tower. Pepper gave him a strict look.  
"What took you so long?"  
"We were just talking. No need to get jealous, Pep."  
"I'm not jealous. I was just curious, you've been gone for a long time."  
"It's only been 10 minutes."  
"Hey, could you two argue somewhere else, we want to watch the movie!" shouted Clint. Without any additional word, Tony sat down next to him. This was going to be a long night. 

The flight wasn't exactly calm either. Charlotte kept going on and on about what happened at the tower.  
"I think that dad still loves you. Do you love him, too? And don't lie, I know the truth."  
"If you do, then I don't need to answer. You keep forgetting that he's in a relationship with Pepper and he loves her."  
"Yeah, I know, but still…"  
"Charlie, sweetheart, while it's true that Tony and I had and have feelings for each other, our relationship didn't work out for a reason and we realized we could never be more than friends. Please accept that, dear and move on, just like we did."  
"Just one more question. What was the reason?"  
"What reason?"  
"For your break up."  
"It was complicated, Charlie. Buckle up, we're landing." 'Saved by the bell' Emily thought. She really didn't want to go there and kind of hoped Charlotte would drop the topic.

It was a cold and rainy day in Boston. Thomas was waiting at the doorstep of Emily's mansion with a bouquet of white roses. He had messed up big again and was hoping the lady would forgive him, eventually. As the jet touched the ground, he stood up and waited. Charlotte ran past him with one of her bags shouting a quick 'Hi' before disappearing inside. Thomas walked towards the jet meeting up with Emily at the bottom of the ramp.  
"What do you want?"  
"Hello to you, too. Look, I'm really, really sorry. I'm an idiot, I shouldn't have done that, but I only wanted you safe." Emily stared him down.  
"Alright, come on inside. I'm not discussing this in the rain."  
"Let me help you. What did the kid pack? That's heavy as hell."  
Once inside, Thomas turned to Emily: "Right, where was I? I got you these, I hope you like them. I'm very, very sorry, Emilianna and I hope one day you might be able to forgive me for my actions. Until then, I won't bother you anymore. But please believe me that I am honestly sorry." He then turned for the door.  
"Wait, you don't have to go. Apology accepted and the roses are beautiful, thank you. I had some time to think and I can see why you did what you did. Just promise me you will never do it again."  
"Alright, I hereby promise you that I will not block people's memories ever again, unless it's absolutely necessary."  
"Yeah, let's say that's a good start. Now let's change into something dry. Oh, and Charlotte wants to learn how to ride a horse, can you teach her?"  
"I sure can."  
Some hours later Charlotte was trying to beat Thomas at chess.  
"How are you so good at this?" she asked as he won yet another game.  
"Darling, it's all about the strategy you use. That way you can confuse your opponent and win. I could show you a few tricks, if you'd like."  
"Yes, I really want to beat Bruce in a game."  
"Well, I might have a few tricks up my sleeve for that. But we'll leave that for tomorrow."  
"Aww, but why?"  
"Because it's late. I have to go, now and you need to sleep, because tomorrow, we'll go horse riding."  
Charlotte let out a squeal of excitement causing everyone present to cover their ears and ran up the stairs to her room.  
"There's no doubt she's a Stark." Said Thomas putting on his jacket.  
"Not in the slightest."  
"Well, see you girls tomorrow, then. Goodnight."  
"Night, Loki." Said Emily quietly. Loki smiled and disappeared into the darkness of the night. The rain had stopped. 

Back at the tower movie night was interrupted by the arrival of Thor. He went straight to the point.  
"My friends, we have a very big problem. Loki has escaped the dungeons and no one can find him, not even my friend Heimdall can see where he is…"

 **To be continued…**

 **So, Emily is aware Thomas is Loki. The Avengers will be up all night to get Loki and Charlotte has no idea what she has gotten herself into.  
Just to clarify, Emily would never put Charlotte in danger. Charlotte is the daughter Emily always wanted and she raised her. So, no, Loki is not after Charlotte. He wouldn't dare.  
Now I decided to create a little spin-off for this. It will center around Loki and Emily and on how he escaped and what he's doing here on Earth in the first place. Working title is **_**Second chances,**_ **in case anyone is interested (don't try to search for it, it's not uploaded yet).  
BTW, has anyone here seen Infinity war? I mean it was probably the most emotional movie (as in bringing out a damn lot of emotions) I've ever seen. It was brilliant, very well made and awesome and… it traumatized me. How on earth am I supposed to survive a whole year to see the sequel is a mystery to me, but I have to. And I sure hope there will be a happy ending for all the Avengers, especially Tony and Loki and Bucky and everyone…**


	12. Chapter 12

Days have passed and with Emily in the office, Charlotte was spending time with Thomas at the stables. Charlotte always loved animals, Emily even got her a cat when she was younger. Unfortunately it passed away of old age some months ago. Since then she's been trying to persuade Tony to allow her to get a dog. He was still undecided.  
The two were now riding a bit further away to the fields. When they finally took a break, Charlotte took the chance to ask Thomas a question that's been bothering her for days.  
"Tom?"  
"Yes, Charlotte?"  
"What is wrong with Emily? She seems so sad."  
"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to answer that question."  
"How about you tell me the truth, then?"  
Thomas thought about it for a moment. He knew they couldn't lie to the kid forever. He knew it hurt Emily that they had to lie to Charlie in the first place.  
"I will tell you, but I have a few conditions."  
"Which would be?"  
"You will hear me out. Listen to the whole story and not run off after the first sentences. No one, especially not the Avengers or Potts or anyone can know about it."  
"Alright. I promise to listen to the whole thing."  
"Good. Let's sit down, this is going to be a long one. The reason Emily is sad is that she doesn't like to lie to people she cares about, in this case you. Don't be angry at her, please, there was no other way.  
My name's not Thomas. I'm Loki. Yes, that one. I managed to escape the prison on Asgard, still not sure how, but I ended up here on earth, where Ems people found me. Instead of letting me die, like they could have, they took me here and gave me a second chance. I don't have my powers, so you don't have to be afraid that I'd do something to you. I wouldn't even if I had them, you're a good kid Charlotte… How about I tell you the rest once we get back home, there's a storm coming up. You alright?" he asked, concerned.  
"Yeah, I just didn't expect that. So, you won't kill me or hurt me or anything?"  
"Dear, do you think Emily would allow us to hang out if I had such intentions. If you got hurt, she'd kill me on the spot. Besides I owe your mother a big debt for what she did." 

Back in New York the Avengers were getting ready for their trip to Asgard to investigate. There had to be some evidence there to show where the troublemaker was headed or how he escaped in the first place. Pepper, Jane and Darcy decided to join the expedition. The tension between Tony and Pepper had dissolved quickly. She just had had a bad day at work, making her more grumpy than usual. She was now on the phone with Emily:  
"…so you're taking a vacation? Good call, you looked like you needed it." Said Emily letting out a laugh.  
"Was I that bad? If I said anything mean to you, I'm sorry."  
"No, you weren't that bad, you just looked tired, Pep. So where are you guys headed?"  
"Actually, we're tagging along on a mission with the Avengers, so it won't be much of a vacation. I'm sure it'll take my mind of off things for a while."  
"Ah, yeah, kicking ass is always good, trust me. When will you be back?"  
"No idea. Thanks for agreeing on this. It's helpful to know both the company and Charlie will be in good hands while we're gone."  
"It's not a problem, that's why we made this arrangement in the first place."  
"How's Charlotte anyway? Is she behaving?"  
"Of course she is. She's fine. Thomas is teaching her how to ride a horse so she's having a blast. By the way, are you by any chance allergic to dogs?"  
"No, I love dogs. Why are you asking?"  
"Well, Charlotte told me she'd like to have a dog, but Tony seems to be avoiding the topic, so I figured I'd ask the head of the household. I want to get her one. What do you think about that?"  
"Go ahead and get the dog. This tower is missing something cute and fluffy. I won't tell Tony, it'll be a surprise. I have to go now. I'll call you when we get back. Bye."  
"Have fun, Pep and enjoy the free days. Bye and be safe."  
"I'll do my best. Tell Charlie we say 'Hi'."  
Em couldn't help but wonder where the Avengers were going and what made them take their girlfriends with them, but she was happy to have Charlie here for a few more days.

Charlotte and Loki had made it back to the mansion just in time. Heavy rain started to fall as soon as they closed the door. They showered, changed and met up in the living room. They picked up where they left on.  
"You know, Emily is not my mother. I know I call her mom on occasions, but she's really my godmother."  
"Yes, I'm aware. I was talking about Agent Carter earlier."  
"Wait, you know my mother? How?"  
"About 20 something years ago I was the one that brought Emily to her. I'm the reason Em doesn't have memories from her old live, Charlotte. You see, I blocked them out along with some other things, it was to keep her safe from… some people. She was the one person I cared about, kid and I couldn't let someone hurt her. She was safer here. This was her home."  
"Alright, so let's say I believe you. You don't appear to be lying, at least that's what my gut tells me. Why did you attack Earth if you knew she was here?"  
"The guy who wanted the Tesseract also wanted to wipe out half the universe and frankly I couldn't let that happen. So, yeah, I attacked Earth. I apologize for throwing your dad out of that window, but in my own defense, I saw those bracelets he put on."  
"It's an interesting story. Seems believable, but I'm still not sure if I can trust you."  
"What I'm about to tell you, is really, really embarrassing. In addition to losing my powers, the spell I'm under also prevents me from lying. I cannot lie to anyone no matter how hard I try. I'm the god of lies incapable of telling any. It sucks."  
"Huh, that's interesting. I'm still going to ask Emily to confirm it, she's a walking lie detector." Said Charlotte not letting her gaze off Loki.

As if on cue, Emily walked in: "Hey, guys. Guess what, I talked to Pepper some hours ago and the Avengers plus Pepper and some girls named Jane and Darcy are going on some kind of mission. They have no idea when they'll be back and they all said Hi. The other thing is that Pepper approved the dog, so you can start picking one. Anyway what have you two been up to?"

Charlotte looked at Loki and then back at Emily.  
"Loki here told me a story."  
"Wait how…?" Em asked looking at Loki who answered promptly.  
"She wanted to know why you were so sad so I figured I'd tell her the truth."  
Emily looked down on the floor and then she sat down next to Charlotte.  
"I'm sorry I lied to you, Charlie, it's just that… I'm sorry."  
"Hey, don't worry about it. I understand, sometimes the less people know the truth the better. I swear I won't tell anybody."  
"How did I deserve such a great girl like you? You are truly the best."  
"Can I just ask what made you take him in?"  
"We found him beaten up, close to death near Merlin's cave in England. He still had shackles and chains, was barely conscious, barely breathing. We couldn't have left him there, it just wouldn't be right. So we took him, the doctors managed to get the poison out of his system, but his magic was gone.  
He begged us not to take him back to Asgard and we agreed to keep him here, under a few conditions of course. He is a victim of inhuman torture in this case after all.  
Once he got better, he told us about everything. The attack, the plan, the alien army, infinity stones…. Plus he's pretty smart and for some reason he's not capable of lying anymore, so why not."  
"You do realize I'm sitting right here, right?" Said Loki, waving his arm around.

This made Charlie laugh and she pulled both into a big hug…

 **Next up: Charlie drags Loki to the mall, the trio in a dog shelter and more…**

 **So, this one was pretty long and Loki did most of the talking, but I really needed to give some kind of explanation on the whole situation. I promise more Tony/Charlie father/daughter moments in the future and a big step forward in the relationship between Tony and Pepper (not to give anything away, but it does have something to do with a** _ **ring**_ **).**


	13. Chapter 13

My little girl 13

On Asgard things weren't working out the way the Avengers had planned. They found no evidence on how Loki escaped, even Odin gave the order to stop the search, as it brought nothing but exhausted forces. Frigga was upset. Nobody could blame her, after all Loki was still her son, adopted or not.

Tony was admiring the sunset from one of the balconies. He thought about Charlotte, how she would have loved this. For now she was in safe hands, but he surely didn't want her to stay in Boston forever. With Loki running free, everyone he cared about was in danger. He leaned over the railing, lost in thoughts. This was how Frigga found him.  
"Enjoying the view, Tony."  
"Well, yes your highness. It's really nice."  
"I agree. You know, I don't approve of what Loki did, but he wasn't always like that. Despite everything, he's still my son and I love him."  
"I know what you mean. I have a daughter. She means everything to me."  
"Where is she now? Why didn't you bring her?"  
"Well, I didn't know what to expect and I didn't want her to be in danger. She's fine, she's with her mom. Well, kind of."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Charlotte, my daughter, she is actually my sister. Our parents were murdered when she was just six months old."  
"How old were you?"  
"21. After that… well, I couldn't leave her. My aunt Peggy, who's actually our biological mother, she helped me when she could, otherwise I was either on my own or with a friend. She adopted Charlotte as her own, kept her safe when I couldn't. I tell everyone she's my child, because it's easier to explain. Even most of the team doesn't know the truth. If you could keep it a secret…"  
"Don't worry, I won't That was brave of you. Well next time you come for a visit bring her too."  
"Thank you."

Back on Earth Charlotte was dragging one very desperate Loki through the mall. Emily gave them her credit card, something she will regret doing once she sees the bill. With the first wave of bags and some dog stuff loaded in the car, the duo returned to the mall to get some ice cream. They sat down at one of the tables and started talking:

"This stuff is really good." Said Loki, his mouth covered in sprinkles.  
"Agreed, this is the best one in town. Mom and Dad used to take me here every time we were in Boston. No matter how many problems they had at work, nothing mattered as long as we sat here and just enjoyed being together."  
"By mom and dad you mean Emily and Tony, I assume. Or Peggy?"  
"The first one. Peggy may be my birth mother, but she insisted I call her aunt Peggy and allowed Emily to adopt me. She was the coolest aunt, though. She may have been busy, but she came for a visit every single time she could. Apparently retiring from Shield doesn't leave you with nothing to do."  
"I see. Sounds like you have a very loving family."  
"Yes, I do. What about you? There has to be someone you care about back on Asgard."

Loki looked up from his ice cream. Charlotte was observing him. She noticed the pain in his eyes. After a moment of silence, Loki decided to answer Charlies question.  
"My mother, Frigga. She was the only person on Asgard who ever accepted me for who I was. I hurt her so much with my actions and words. "  
"Have you tried to apologize?"  
"No, I didn't. I didn't have a chance to before I left Asgard."  
"How about you write her a letter? We'll send it back the way you came here."  
"I guess it's worth a try. You know, you look just like your mother. Same spark in your eyes."  
"Haha, thank you. Tony takes more after his father when it comes to the looks, but we do have the same eyes."  
"Yes, I noticed. Well, what else do you want to buy? We're running out of time, we need to get the puppy."  
Charlottes eyes lit up. No more shopping was done that day. 

The trio arrived at a dog shelter in the evening. "Remember, just one!" shouted Emily after Charlotte. She knew it would be a hard choice since all the dogs were adorable.  
While Charlie was searching for the right dog, Emily and Loki were talking with the caretakers. An hour later another caretaker emerged with Charlotte holding a little golden puppy. Emily and Loki smiled at her excitement. They left the shelter leaving behind a huge donation and set course for home.

Meanwhile the Avengers were packing up their stuff. They were leaving the next day and wanted to enjoy one last evening before facing Fury and other everyday problems.  
Tony and Pepper decided to take a walk in the palace gardens. They sat down on the fountain with a nice view of the starlit sky. Tony was admiring the sky reflecting in Peppers eyes as she spoke:  
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
"I agree. It wouldn't be this nice if you weren't here. I'm glad you came along."  
"I'm happy too. Finally a peaceful place to be."  
Pepper looked at Tony who smiled at her.  
"You know, Pep, you're the most amazing woman I ever met. You were always here for me, a big egoistical asshole, even if I was very annoying. I never thought I'd ever be able to love someone the way I love you. Pepper you are my world, the person I cannot live without and you complete me. So if by any chance those feelings are mutual, would you make me the happiest man in this universe and become my wife?"  
Pepper looked at him. Sure, they had been dating for quite some time now, but she wasn't expecting him to propose anytime soon. Nevertheless, she loved him more than anything.  
"Yes, Tony, yes I will. I love you, too."  
Without missing a beat, Tony pulled the ring out of his pocket and slid it on Peppers finger. It fit perfectly…


	14. Chapter 14

Charlotte was happy to hear that her dad and his friends were finally back from wherever they went. Her little pup, Joy, was chasing Loki around the living room wiggling her tail. She handed the phone over to Emily who was in the kitchen cooking lunch.  
Charlie returned to the living room to save Loki from her new friend. She picked up Joy and sat down on the couch next to Loki.  
"So, Thomas, right?"  
"Correct, dear."  
"Who picked the name?"  
"You will have to ask Em, I have no idea. Are you looking forward to go home again?"  
"I don't know. I mean, I want to see Tony and Pepper and the others again, but… I just miss the peaceful life that I had here. I swear that tower is under attack every other week."  
"Well, you're legally an adult, you could move to a different spot."  
"I know, but I want to be with my dad more and get to know the others better. Argh, it's so complicated."  
"Yes, life is complicated. We can agree on that. What about the old mansion? You would be close to your dad and not living with a target on your back. Plus, Joy here would have plenty of outdoor space."  
"It's kind of hard to adjust to you being the voice of reason here, but you're probably right."  
"I always am…" said Loki only to have his grin interrupted by Emily.  
"No, you're not."  
"Ouch, that was mean."  
"No darling, that was payback. However, you're right this time. Charlie would be safer in the mansion, but she shouldn't be alone out there." said Emily putting down a bowl with pop corn in front of them.  
"Yeah, that's true. Let's face it, Joy here is far from being a threatening guard dog."

Everyone looked at the half-asleep puppy who let out the cutest yawn and looked around. Charlie cuddled her closer. "Yeah, you're probably right. Perhaps I should talk to my dad about that."  
"Don't worry about that, Charlie. I already talked to Tony about this dangerous living space and he has plans to build the new Avengers HQ on the outskirts of town. That place I can assure you will be a lot safer than the tower. It should be finished in a couple of months."  
"That's great news, mom. Why haven't you mentioned it earlier?"  
"It didn't cross my mind until the two of you started to discuss this. If you want to go back to the mansion, you should go. You'd still be close to your dad. By the way, Tony said he wanted to discuss some extremely serious stuff and he even sounded serious this time. It will probably have something to do with that mission they'd been on."  
Charlotte looked down at Joy. Emily and Loki observed the girl as she quietly stroke the Joys head. When she finally spoke, she was staring at the wall with no emotion in her eyes.  
"What should I say if they talk about Loki? Is there an official story about this whole thing?"  
Em and Loki looked at each other. Emily was the one to break the silence. She put one hand on Charlies shoulder and spoke:  
"Officially speaking, Loki is dead. He died that day we found him in England. It's not necessary a lie, he flat lined about 3 times. I can't ask you to lie to Tony, Charlotte. Perhaps it would be for the best if you didn't say anything, or call me if that situation arises."  
"I agree. It's probably for the best. Thank you for trusting me."  
She hugged them both.

Being debriefed by Fury was not the way Tony imagined spending the afternoon. He wanted to see his little girl again and tell her the great news but instead he was bored. At least Pepper was having fun with the girls.  
Fury was once again going over all the facts.  
"…so, we have no idea where he might be. You are saying that this maniac could be luring somewhere planning another attack and we can do absolutely nothing about it. He might as well be here on Earth and we have no way of knowing it. If he's here we have to find him. I don't care what you do, just find him. Dismissed."

The Avengers looked at each other. They decided to go home first and get some rest before starting their search. After all they'd spend some time searching already and needed to clear their heads a little. Tony decided it would be great to throw a party the next day.

The next morning the Avengers were having breakfast when Jarvis announced a jet closing in on the tower. Not long after the doors burst open and Charlotte ran inside straight towards Tony and hugged him. Behind her, Emily was struggling to balance a sleeping Joy in one hand, bags of dog stuff in the other and avoiding the luggage Charlie threw on the floor as soon as she entered the room. Steve and Bucky went over to help her while Charlie continued hugging her family.

"Who's that little cutie?" asked Bucky as Emily was finally free of the bags.  
"Her name is Joy and she is the new addition to the Avengers. Let's say it was Charlottes housewarming gift."  
"I can't believe Tony allowed a dog." Said Steve petting Joys head.  
"Yeah, he doesn't know. Pepper allowed it. Let's say we're in for some fun."  
Pepper joined the petting session: "That's her? She's so adorable. I always wanted one, but I never had the time to care for them. A little bundle of joy."  
"Charlie even named her Joy. I think she'll bring a lot of it. Now tell me about that ring of yours…"

By the time Tony noticed Pepper was not by his side anymore, the two ladies managed to get over all the important stuff-Tonys and Peppers engagement and the party. Charlotte went to her room and most of the Avengers were crowded around Emily and Pepper for some reason.  
"Hey, Em! Thanks for looking after Charlie. You got yourself a dog?"  
"As cute as she is, I'm afraid she's not mine to keep."  
"Oh, no. Don't tell me that this is going to stay here with us… No, no, no… Pepper say something." He said whining. Pepper however wasn't here to support him.  
"Don't worry, I already did."  
For a second relief washed over Tonys face: "Thank you."  
"You're welcome. We're going to have so much fun with Joy, imagine it. We seriously have to get this cutie a big dog bed to match the furniture. Jarvis find some that would fit." Said Pepper and walked over to the couch with Joy.

This was the moment Tony knew he lost the fight. Joy would be living with them and nothing could change it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, there!  
First I want to apologize for not updating for such a long time. Unfortunately school has managed to keep me busy and once I had the next chapter ready, my computer broke down. Completely, all files are gone. **

**Big thank you for the wonderful reviews, it means a lot that you guys are still reading this.**

 **Enjoy!**

With Emily back in Boston with 'Thomas', Charlottes attention was more or less focused on Joy. The puppy finally gave her the companion she always wanted and even Tony seemed to have warmed up to her. Not that he would ever admit it. The other Avengers however were not shy to show their love for the newcomer. Charlotte knew that Joy was going to be one spoiled happy dog.  
A few days after she returned to the tower, the Avengers started going on missions again. She had no idea what those new missions were about, no one would tell her, but she was sure it had something to do with their trip. Tony had told her they'd been to Asgard, but that was all she knew.

Charlie was starting to feel lonely. As days turned to weeks, missions became more frequent. Whenever she walked into them discussing their missions, or anything else, everyone fell silent and put up a fake smile. Even Pepper adopted this kind of behavior after a few days.

"I feel bad for this. We should tell her the truth," said Tony glaring at the others.  
"We're only protecting her. If she knew, she could panic and no one wants that. She's already been through enough since she moved in," said Pepper gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.  
"I know. Charlie's safety goes first. If Loki is on Earth, he'll look for anything to get back to us for beating his ass. Why can't this all-seeing buddy of yours just find him?"  
"Because he cannot see him friend Stark. I understand your concern, lady Charlotte is a good friend of mine and I care for her deeply. If there was a way to find him faster, believe me, we would have tried it by now."  
"I get that Thor, I really do. It's just… How do we know we're not wasting our time here? He may not be on Earth at all."  
"Well, that is the problem Stark. The last time Heimdall saw him, he was definitely here. I'm sorry, I should have told you about it earlier."  
"It's okay, where was it?"  
"A place called England. He lost him afterwards, then picked him up again somewhere in the middle of the ocean."  
"Well, England is it."

Back in her room, Charlotte was keeping herself busy texting the trickster himself.

 **(AN: '** _Charlottes texts'_ ; _**'Lokis texts' )**_  
 _'… so now you see what I meant with them acting weird'_

' _ **yeah, I get it, any idea why? '**_

' _nah, I suspect it has to do with their trip to asgard'_

' _ **odin probably let it slip that I no longer occupy my cell'**_

' _might be, what are u up to?'_

' _ **I may be able to cheer u up, Em has a meeting at the UN, so we're heading to NYC, wanna hang out?'**_

' _Yessss, when?'_

' _ **tomorrow, I'll call when we land. Bring the dog, night'**_

' _deal, night'_

Charlotte smiled, at least there was still someone that wanted her around. She put her phone on her bed and went downstairs to the main kitchen, where she stumbled upon the remaining inhabitants of the tower. Per usual as soon as they saw her the conversation between them ended and she was met with polite smiles from all the members.  
"Look, I know I'm the youngest here, but I'm not stupid. I know you're hiding something and you obviously don't want me around right now so stop with those stupid smiles. It's getting annoying. I just grab a glass of milk and I'll be out of your way in no time."  
She noticed the pain that flickered in Tony's eyes, but proceeded to the kitchen and then back to her room. She never meant to hurt her dad, nevertheless she was also done keeping her head down. Guilt started to consume her about her behavior as she returned to reading the book she had abandoned earlier. Sometime later there was a knock on her door.  
"Come in," she said, not lifting her head from the book she was reading.  
"Hey, baby girl." said Tony slowly closing the door behind him. Charlie lifted her head and looked at him.  
"Hey, dad. I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have said…"  
"No, don't. You were right. What we did was mean to you and we all deserved to hear it. Listen, for your own safety, I can't tell you what we're working on, but always remember that I love you and I always want you around. You're my little girl and there is no one else in this world I care about more."  
"I love you, too." Charlie said, as she walked across the room. Tony wrapped his arms around her.  
"I promise this will soon be over and then we will do something fun together, all of us."  
"Alright, when are you leaving on the next mission?"  
"Tomorrow morning, actually. We'll be back the next day."  
"Pepper's going to the climate conference in Paris, right?"  
"Correct. I hope I can trust you not to burn this place down while we're gone. Or should I call Fury to come and babysit you?"  
"Don't worry, you have enough fire extinguishers. Besides Em is supposed to come to NY tomorrow, because of some UN stuff, so I'll have company. Thomas promised we could hang out. He's a good guy, don't worry, I'll be just fine."  
"Well, if Emily trusts that guy then I can. Just be careful and…"  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll call you in the afternoon, in the evening and in the morning, just so you know I'm okay."  
"Good girl. I'll let you sleep now. Say hi to Em and this Thomas guy for me, I really need to meet him someday."  
"Night, dad. Good luck tomorrow."

The next morning Charlie was up before everybody else. She had taken Joy for a walk around the tower before heading to the kitchen. This time however, she made sure to remain unnoticed by the rest of its occupants, who were deep in conversation about their upcoming mission.  
"I have to wonder, what would Loki want on Earth? I mean we pretty much kicked his butt the last time he visited." Said Clint stuffing his mouth cereals.  
"Well, there has to be a reason. How did he get out of Asgard unnoticed anyway? That place was supposed to be secure. " Asked Tony leaning on the counter.  
"No one can figure it out. The cell wasn't damaged; someone must have let him go. Loki knew ways out of Asgard and was fully capable of remaining out of his sight." Answered Thor finishing another pop-tart.  
"At least that explains a lot. I don't mean to be a pessimist here, but how are we supposed to find a shape shifter with magical abilities that obviously isn't drawing any attention to himself among the entire population of this planet?" asked Natasha. Everyone looked at her. They knew she was right.

Charlotte decided it was time to go inside the room. Thankfully Jarvis decided not to tell that she'd been listening in on the conversation.  
"Morning!" she said heading straight to the fridge.  
The Avengers observed her, wondering whether she heard anything or not. They knew the girl enough by now.

About an hour later the Avengers departed on their mission. Charlotte watched the jet until it disappeared completely. She knew she had a choice to make. Should she tell them about Loki?

Before she could answer that question, her phone rang. Loki and Emily had landed. Now she at least had someone to talk to. Not much later the couple arrived at the tower to pick her up. While they were being driven to the city centre to drop Emily of at their meeting, Charlotte quickly explained the situation in the tower to them. Emily and Loki carefully listened to everything she said. After a short silence, Emily took both her hand in hers and said:  
"Charlie, sweetheart, don't worry about it. I'll talk to your dad. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this, but I promise it will turn out alright."  
"For all of us?" Charlie replied shooting a glance at Loki who was giving the ladies a bit of privacy while making faces at the pedestrians through the darkened window of the limo.  
"I hope so. I'll tell your dad that Loki died last December."  
What if he asks about Thomas? He wants to meet him. I don't want you guys to get separated. You and Loki, as crazy as it sounds, I think… Forget it. I just hope it will be okay."  
"It will. Leave it up to me and the three of you enjoy the day. Alright?"  
"Alrighty, we will."

After dropping Emily off, Loki turned to Charlie with a devilish grin: "Ready for an adventure, miss Stark?"

 **Next up: Charlotte and Loki conquer New York, Avengers return home and planning a wedding the Stark way…**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi! I'm very sorry for the delay, but my computer broke and I temporarily lost all my stuff, but now I got a new one and managed to recover some of it, so enjoy this next chapter.**

An hour later the duo were riding horses on the outskirts of town. Charlotte seemed to be lost in thoughts and it didn't go unnoticed by Loki.  
"What's bothering you?"  
"It's nothing. Just with everything that's going on, I miss the simple life."  
"I can imagine it can't be easy to adjust to living with the Avengers. I mean if Thor can be a handful alone, then the combination with others… What I mean is, I understand it can't be easy."  
"Thanks. The worst thing about it is the constant feeling of danger looming behind every corner. I really want to be there with Tony, but it's just overbearing at times."  
"Your brother cares very much about you, I'm sure about that. Perhaps if you tried to talk to him about it…"  
"I don't want to hurt his feelings. He puts so much effort in making the tower a home. It would hurt him if I wanted to leave and I don't want to leave, I want to be there. Ugh, it's complicated."  
"I see."

An hour later the horses were back in the stables. Charlotte was still petting them while Loki loaded the riding gear and Joy into the car.  
"Can I ask you something? It's a bit weird."  
"Go ahead."Loki said leaning against the car.  
"Did you really give birth to a horse?"  
"What? No! Thors friends made that up. Odin had that eight legged horse before I was born. I can't believe people on Midgard actually still stick to it."  
"Well, that's what I read in norse legends. I just had to ask."  
"Let's get Joy home and we can go to that mall, like you wanted."

Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean the Avengers were trying to find at least some kind of proof Loki was on Earth. Tony was setting up the equipment with Bruce to search for any anomaly that could give the tricksters presence away.

Hours later the Loki was carrying bags with clothes while Charlotte was running from shop to shop. He was glad when she finally decided she wanted coffee. The two stored everything in the car, ordered their drinks and sat down. By then Emily had finished her meetings and joined them.  
"So how was your day?"  
"Fantastic, first we went horse riding, then we went to central park, the Statue of Liberty and we went shopping and here we are." Charlie was happy.  
"Well, how about we go home, you guys must be tired."  
Just then the sound of shooting filled the air. Loki quickly pulled Charlotte and Emily behind the closest pillar.  
"Get Charlie to safety, I'll handle the shooter."Emily told Loki who didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Charlie and, before she could protest, dragged her towards the nearest exit. Unfortunately what neither of them expected was a second shooter standing between them and the car park.

In the following seconds the world seemed to slow down. Shots were fired. All that Charlie knew was that she was suddenly on the ground. She saw Loki shielding her, blood trickling down his arm. "Not today." he said through the pain. Out of nowhere he pulled a dagger and threw it at the shooter. He hit him in the leg and the shooter collapsed in pain. Charlie ran to Loki who slid down on the floor. He was panting. Just then the police officers arrived and arrested the culprit.

While the paramedics were fixing up Loki, Emily arrived. She ran straight to Charlotte, who was sitting on a bench nearby.  
„Are you alright?"  
„Yes, thanks to Loki. He took a bullet for me. Will he be ok?"  
„Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine."  
An hour later, the trio was on their way to Emily's apartment. They decided to prolong their stay as neither wanted Charlie to be alone after what happened. The drive home was silent. Emily was behind the wheel, Thomas in the passenger seat and Charlie was in the back cradling Joy for dear life.

The next day Emily dropped Charlotte off at the tower. The Avengers had returned and Tony was worried when he didn't find his baby girl at home. Charlotte was glad to be with her brother again.  
"She's still shaken. She had a nightmare last night, wouldn't go back to sleep. Tom and I stayed with her the whole night. This might be a longer recovery." Said Emily leaning against the car.  
"Here I thought sleepless nights were in the past. Don't worry. I won't let her out of sight. She's mine after all."  
"I know, Tony, I know. I'm just worried. She's never had to deal with so many traumas until now. I know you want her here, but have you considered the tower might not be the best place for her?"  
"I have, trust me. The new facility will be finished soon, then we'll move and hopefully it'll be better."  
"I trust you, Tony. But I consider her my daughter, too. Make sure she's fine. I have to go now. If anything, call me."  
"I will. Send my best wishes to Tom and a thank you for saving my kid."  
"Ok, bye."

Tony went back upstairs where Charlie was waiting. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug. Tony knew one thing for sure. He didn't want to let her go…


End file.
